Dual Guardians
by Leengard
Summary: Long ago two great warriors set off on a quest to maintain the world's peace. While they shared a common goal, their methods differed. One believed peace and unity could be achieved with everyone while the other believed that those of true heritage were the only ones capable. Now, in the modern day, their descendants unknowingly follow in their footsteps at Duel Academy. (AU)
1. Chapter 1: The First Day

_**Hello Readers! Welcome to the First Chapter of Dual Guardians, a story written by me, Leengard Ustan, and my pal, Raydark182. Please note that we will be using cards shown in both the Anime and Game, except for Pendulum Monsters.**_

 _ **We do not Own Yu-Gi-Oh or the cards used, only the original characters we have made.**_

 _ **Edited ~ 6/26/16**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter One**_

 _ **The First Day**_

 _ **Duel Academy**_

A clear blue ocean that spread for many miles, overlooked by the shine of the afternoon sun along with small puffs of clouds reflecting off the water's surface. It would've been a scene of tranquility an artist would want to paint if not for the fact that a large helicopter flew overhead, disturbing the peace with the loud noise that came from its wing blades. On the side of the helicopter, there appeared to be a logo that belonged to the **International Duel Academy** and within its body, it contained that school's newly admitted students, numbering no more than 20.

Inside of it, were a small group of no more than 20 new students that managed to passed both their written and physical exams to qualify entry into the academy. Each ones coming from a different part of the world from different examination sectors.

Having passed their entrance exams, the new students of the were on their way to their new home away from home.

Before long, the chopper slowly descended down towards the landing pad as the wind picked up around the area, spreading what little dust and dirt was around. In a matter of mere-seconds, the helicopter completed its landing and killed its engines, allowing the propellers to slow down and eventually stop.

From their windows, many saw the Academy building, with its six massive pillars surrounding a large dome that was rested up against a cliff and surrounded by forest. Behind the Academy was a smoking volcanic crater. There was also evidence of a beach and docks for ships. The Academy was obviously very large, capable of housing so many students and faculty that there was no way one could feel isolated on this island, though getting lost looked like a definite possibility.

With that out of the way, the single door of the transport opened as a small set of stairs descended from the door allowing the passengers inside to start making their way out. Most of the people were young teens, around the ages of fifteen to sixteen, each one wearing the standard colored uniform of the academy, red, yellow, and blue.

In their hands or on their backs was the luggage that most of them brought for their trip, some having more than others and some only having the bare essentials. One particular thing all of them had were the standard Duel Disks the academy provided as well as special visors that many had in their pockets or elsewhere on their body.

These Duel Disks had circular body with four laterally-placed slots (the bottom-right one being the Graveyard and the upper-left one the Extra Deck), a curved blade, and a small hourglass-shaped touchscreen. During a Duel, the touchscreen displays Life Points and Turn Counters at the top of the screen, and the Spell & Trap Zones on the bottom. Also, by tapping on the word "Enemy", the user can look at their opponent's field. The arm blades, which are normally curved but can be customized, are composed of energy like the same "touchable Solid Vision" used in certain kinds of Duels, and are aligned parallel to the main body of the Disk.

The Visor were an updated model of the old Duel Gazers, looking more like a pair of visor sunglasses rather than a monocle. The standard ones given out by the academy had a simple, mirror quality to the outside of them, though these were just as customizable as the Duel Disks.

Many students had the standard for both, but most customized them in their own particular way from the colors of both objects to the shape of the Digi-Construct.

After a few minutes, the last person exited from the helicopter though many could see he was different, not just from how he looked or hair color, but how he acted as well.

This red-haired student, with what appeared to be a scar on his left eyebrow and standing at a fair height for a normal teen and had semi-tanned skin, wore the standard uniform and had it in proper form. Though only the jacket was left open rather than buttoned. Underneath, he wore a red jersey with the white number eleven. His lower half had semi-fitting pants rather than the standard academy pants and also had red shoes as well, making his whole outfit matching.

The Duel Disk he carried had the standard, circular shape of the Academy Issued ones, but his was solid red in color, had white highlights to emphasis the edges and had a black "V" shape on top of the Duel Disk that extended past the edges of the circle. He was clearly owning the color of his Dorm, as even his Visor, seen sticking out of one of his pockets, was red in color.

Looking around the landing pad, his eyes sparkled with such excitement, remembering how incredible the view was when he was looking out the window of the chopper. The young man couldn't believe that he was finally at the same academy all great Duelist trained in to become amazing, and somehow he had a feeling that he'd soon find himself among them one day.

He quickly composed himself and began to walk forward with the rest of his fellow students, but soon noticed one that stood out from the rest of the crowd.

This student, who was about a centimeter shorter, looked like a total slacker with no attention to his own appearance. He had messy brown hair, like one would have after waking up, and his red jacket was unbuttoned, as well as wrinkled like he had slept in it with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The brown pants he wore were baggy, like he had gotten a pair that were too big for him. His shoes appeared to be black sneakers and he was wearing a plain black t-shirt.

His own custom Academy Duel Disk was hanging from the bag he had slung over his shoulder. The Duel Disk was customized to look like a kite shield, azure as the primary color with a white "X" across it. The Visor, hanging from his collar, was solid black in color.

Overall, the appearance of the student made many wonder if someone had made a mistake, or if that person had a mental disorder.

Little did anyone know, these two students would have adventures that would shake the foundation of the academy.

* * *

 _ **Auditorium**_

Before long, some of the academy's employees came to greet the students and inform them about a special opening ceremony that many of them would participate in before heading to their appropriate dorms. After the announcement, the students began making their way inside of the academy, unaware of what lied ahead of them.

Once inside, they saw one of the biggest rooms ever laid eyes on with an entire crowd of murmuring students, each one talking with another as they tried to wonder what exactly was going on. Many were guided by the employees to empty seats, each one in a section based on the color of their uniforms.

Because of this, the two students sat next to one another.

While the brown-haired slacker student didn't seem too interested in what was going on, his eyes were closed and he was simply listening to music on his phone, the excited red-haired one was simply amazed by what he was seeing around him. There wasn't just people from Japan, but from other nations in the academy. He couldn't help but chuckle in amazement.

After a few more minutes, the sound of speakers turning on caught the attention of everyone as they turned their eyes towards the stage. The lights soon dimmed as the TV screens around the arena began turning on, focusing on the podium with the appearance of a woman coming into view.

She was a relatively tall woman with tanned skin and a semi-large bust that made some of the male students blush when they saw her. She had blond hair that reached about the middle of her back, and blue eyes underneath a pair of wire-rimmed glasses. Not only that, she wore a green suit over a white button-up, with a blue cravat held in place by a gold cross pin. The suit looked like it had been freshly pressed, having a very crisp and clean feel. She also wore equally clean white gloves and freshly shined black shoes.

The slacker opened one eye when the general hubbub died down, revealing it to be hazel in color, and uncovered one of his ears. He was still clearly far from interested in what was going on at the assembly, and his attitude was starting to annoy the more enthusiastic guy to his right.

Soon enough, the red-haired student was about to say something, but was cut off by his neighbor.

"Jeez, when I applied to this place, I didn't think they'd still do any of these boring ass assemblies..." the slacker muttered with a tired sigh, yawning loudly and catching the attention of some of the others around him.

Seeing some of the faces looking towards them, the red-haired student looked over with a look of annoyance on his face.

"Hey, show some respect dude, this is the world's best dueling academy!" He replied in a hushed tone, trying not to talk so loud. The reply he got was only the sound of a scoff, making him start to growl, but soon stopped when the sound of the speakers turned on, catching his and everyone else's attention.

After taking a moment to clear her throat, the woman began to speak.

"Thank you all, I am fortunate to be in the presence of so many new and returning students this year, for those who don't know me. My name is **Annebelle Ward** , Fifth Head-Mistress of the International Dueling Academy. Many of you have come from separate branches or have applied in your own hometowns and for coming all this way, I thank each and every one of you."

She paused for a second to clap as it soon started to cause everyone in the audience to clap as well, swirling around excitement in the arena. The Head-Mistress continued to speak after everyone had completely stopped clapping.

"Now, to begin, as many of you know, this academy was founded to act as the gateway for the future of Dueling, the best and brightest who strive here go on to accomplish great things and earn incredible honors. Even if not everyone makes it to this, never forget the most important thing of this academy: As long as you have found the path in life and you can still have fun Dueling, then anyone can be an incredible success. Once again, I look forward to seeing the next great generation of Duelist show what they're made of, thank you."

With that last remark, everyone got up from their seats, minus the slacker, and applaud with loud enthusiasm at what she said to them. All they knew was that their first years of this academy would shape up to be one of the many amazing ones to come.

* * *

 _ **Slifer Red Dorm**_

The assembly had ended and all the students were sent off to find their individual dorms of **Obelisk Blue, Ra-Yellow** , and **Slifer Red** , to get settled in their rooms and decompress from the long trip. There was also some excitement about the Welcoming Dinner from many students of the Blue and Yellow dorms, though most excitement seemed to die down for those who were assigned to the Red Dorm.

The new Slifer Reds were welcomed by the sight of a building that looked like a low rent apartment complex. It had four floors with eight rooms on one side and eight more rooms on the other side. The dorm had a very dull and pedestrian feel to it overall, but some had hope that would be much more cozy on the inside.

The boys started going on the upper levels while the girls were assigned to the lower levels, allowing each gender to have their own space and privacy as dictated by Academy rules.

After entering, the red-haired man looked down at the piece of paper he was given with the schedule and number for his room. He was assigned nearly at the top level of the building, meaning that he would have to climb up as he found that the elevator was out of order.

Once he found the stairs, he began making his ascent upward and eventually found himself on the fourth floor, right in front of the room he was assigned to. Moving in closer to the door, he knocked a few times and waited while putting his right ear to the door to listen.

No sound came from the door, meaning that his roommate probably wasn't in there, so he decided to open it with the key that was given to him and let himself in. Upon entering, he saw that the room was a fairly spacious room with brown-wooden walls with one light in the middle of the white ceiling. In the middle of the room were two individual desks, next to two individual beds with red sheets and covers.

His excitement turned sour when the teen looked to the other bed, seeing the very same brown-haired person he had gotten into an argument with at the assembly.

It wasn't too clear whether he was asleep or if, like at the assembly, he was just listening to music with his eyes closed. Though what got him irritated was how he left his side of the room. Not one day in and already, the slacker had come in, tossed his bag on the desk and then flopped onto the bed. His Duel Disk was propped up in the chair, there was school supplies already strewn about the desk haphazardly and, upon closer inspection, it looked like a closet had thrown up all its contents into the room floor on that side.

The red-head soon calmed down and decided to ignore his roommate for the time being while he began unpacking his bags, grabbing some clothes and placing them inside the drawer that he was provided. In a matter of minutes, most of his stuff was packed away and neatly organized. He was finishing up the last of his things away when something on his roommate's side of the room caught his attention.

The only thing that looked to be put anywhere nicely was a Deck on the desk with nothing surrounding it in the only clean spot seen. Made sense, this school was all about dueling, so why wouldn't one take care of their Deck?

The redhead felt curiosity begin to take hold as he wondered what sort of Deck his slacker roommate had, leading him to go forward a bit while navigating through the mess on the floor. He slowly reached towards the deck, planning to only take a look at one card and find out what archetype he had. His fingers were mere centimeters away when a voice made him jump out of his skin.

"What are you doing?"

The sudden voice made Nick stop and turn to see his roommate now propped up on his elbow, showing a serious expression on his face after noticing where the red-headed teen's hand was reaching for.

"S-sorry, I just wanted to see what kind of cards you had, that's all..." He remarked in an honest tone, seeing his roommate now standing up and walking over to his deck, grabbing it and putting it in his black case on his belt.

The tension was thick in the room as the two teens continued to stare at the other, waiting for one of them to say something, anything at all. Deciding to try and at least be friendly, the red-headed teen cleared his throat before extending his hand.

"I'm **Nick Brood** , it's nice to meet you."

" **Barclay Fyfe**." the slacker replied, taking Nick's hand in a firm grasp and giving it a single shake before letting go to head to their door.

"W-wait! Where are you going?" Nick asked, a little worried that his peace treaty had failed.

"Huh?" Barclay glanced over his shoulder at the door, he still appeared to be annoyed. "To that Welcoming Dinner thing they were going on about earlier."

He opened the door and stepped out, saying something that sounded like "And if you're so curious about my Deck, we can Duel after that."

The last part snapped Nick out of his daze, caused by how surprised he was that his roommate would be so formal with him. Remembering that he hadn't eaten yet, the red-haired teen grabbed his own deck from his bed, and went after Barclay.

The two would soon find out that their new home would be more interesting than they ever imagined.

* * *

 _ **Dorm Dining Room**_

The dining area was just large enough for all of the students to fit in, but only just. The room was an odd combination of dull and bright, the off-white walls seemed to both absorb and reflect the cheap fluorescent lights that hummed above them. The tables were a series of the typical long cafeteria tables, though these had stools rather than bench seating.

Barclay had grabbed a seat by the door and Nick took the one across from him, leaning back as they waited for everyone else to arrive. Once everyone was seated, from the double doors, a man burst in pushing a large buffet trolley that was covered with a large cloth that had lei patterns on it. Many of the new students looked with wide eyes at what was in front of them, but what really caught their attention was the person behind it all.

The man was pale and nearly six feet tall, with blond hair messy hair reaching his shoulders as well as sunglasses on his face. However, what he was wearing was even more shocking. His outfit was clearly Hawaiian, he wore a **Malo** , which made some of the female students blush slightly, shell necklaces, bracelets and anklets, and a lei around his neck.

" **Aloha kakou**!" he shouted with enthusiasm. "Welcome to all! Welcome to the Slifer Red dorm! I am the Head of this Dorm, **Kanoa**! Now I know all of you are tired and would like nothing more than to just eat and go to sleep, but in celebration of those who passed the Entrance Exam, tonight we will be having a Luau!"

After saying that, Kanoa pulled off the cloth and revealed a very large buffet to them all. There was roasted pig, poi, roasted, baked, fried and boiled Breadfruit, Tako poke and several other dishes that no one could remember how to pronounce. He even told everyone that everything they saw had been personally prepared by him.

"Feel free to call me Mr. Kanoa, or just Kanoa, we like to keep it pretty laid back here at Slifer Red!"

With that, everyone cheered in excitement as they began to get up from their tables to go towards the buffet to grab their own food from the feast. Before long, Nick and Barclay both decided to go dig in themselves as the lines started to die down with most of the Slifers already having their plates.

They walked over to find the biggest person that they ever saw, standing nearly over six feet above them, making them feel like bugs compared to him. Though the man's attention wasn't on them, it was on the large plate he was carrying as he finished placing the last of his meal on it.

This man was extremely tall, big, and clearly muscular even under the uniform. Plus, he had a very intimidating face. His black hair had a clean cut with bushy eyebrows, a huge nose, and thick full lips. He wore the red jacket unbuttoned, it didn't look like he could've buttoned it if he wanted to, with straight, semi-loose black pants and white shoes. Under the jacket he wore a clean white shirt.

He was even taller than Kanoa, making everyone in the room feel even shorter than they normally would have. He glanced down and saw Barclay and Nick.

"Oh! Sorry! Am I in the way?" he asked, giving a quick bow and an apology before placing one massive hand under the platter of a plate he had and held the other one out to the two. "I'm **Takashi Matsumoto** , it's nice to meet you."

Although the two found themselves in awe of the giant in front of them, Nick couldn't help but smile and extending his hand towards the giant to shake.

"Nick Brood, pleasure to make your acquaintance. The stalking guy behind me is Barclay."

"Bon Clay?" Takashi repeated, twisting his face in confusion at the name he just said.

"Bar-clay." the guy in question repeated with a pained smirk on his face.

"Oh! Sorry!" Takashi said with an embarrassed smile before giving yet another bow. "I'm not too good with foreign names."

"It's no problem." Barclay replied, sighing a bit and walking forward to begin grabbing some food. "Long as I've lived in Japan, no one's really gotten my name right the first time anyways."

"You from somewhere else?" Nick asked before he could stop himself, grabbing some food as well.

"The UK originally," Barclay answered absentmindedly as he stared at one of the dishes no one could remember the name of. "Parents got a job in Japan so we moved. Half my life's been spent in the Land of the Rising Sun."

"Wow, interesting. I'm from the U.S, specifically around the west-side." Nick added as he grabbed one of the plastic cups of fruit punch that Kanoa brought in.

"It's incredible that you two come from different lands, I've practically lived most of my life in Japan." Takashi remarked as he and the other two finished getting their food and went towards one of the tables to eat. The three sat in neutral silence as the only sounds heard were that of the utensils hitting the plate to grab food.

Not being one who enjoys silence, Nick decided to break the ice.

"Look Bar, I know the two of us didn't get off to such a hot start, but what do you say we bury the hatchet and start fresh? Really try and make the best of things and become friends?"

His offer followed with his hand extending to shake.

"You're pretty hell bent on being friends..." Barclay muttered, looking at his roommate's smile for a bit before sighing and giving his answer. "Sure, why not? We're roommates, might as well get along."

He shook the offered hand, leaving the two to give one another a smile, feeling like it was the start of a wonderful friendship. However, the mood soon turned when a third, and very large hand, covered both of theirs. The two looked at Takashi, a little shocked, more from the sheer size of his hand than anything else.

"Oh! Sorry!" Takashi remarked with a shocked tone, taking his hand back and rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "I was just so moved by that display that I wanted to be friends with you both as well!"

Both of the teens looked at one another, raising an eyebrow to each other before turning back to the large student in front of them.

"Yeah! Let's all be friends!" Nick remarked with a wide grin on his face. Barclay simply sighed and gave a nod, turning his attention back to his meal as he finished.

After a complete hour of talking, the Trio began to notice that some of the other students were getting ready to head back to their rooms. This caused Nick to look up from his Deck that he was seeing, looking to find that it was getting late.

As Barclay yawned and scratched his head in a lazy manner, he stood up and declared that he was going to bed, but was stopped when something grabbed his jacket.

"Hold on there, don't tell me you already forgot?" The red-haired teen questioned, causing the brown-haired teen to simply look over his shoulder with a dazed expression on his face.

"Our Duel dude! You said it before, so how about before we end the night, you vs me!"

Right as he said that, Barclay's expression changed from dazed to focused, almost completely erasing any sign of laziness from his face.

As soon as Nick said that, everyone stopped their talks and eating to turn towards the trio's table, especially the Head of the Dorm, who raised his sunglasses and smiled.

"Alright folks, we got ourselves a Duel!"

With that, everyone cheered in excitement, all of them looking forward to seeing just what kind of battle the duo would show them.

* * *

 _ **Ray here, thank you all so much for looking at our new Fanfiction and we appreciate those that have read and reviewed. As you can tell, it is newly updated and we will be doing that for the chapters we've posted. Also be advised, the duels beforehand were done poorly and we won't really be changing it, but we have improved in the future chapters so I hope it will make it better. Once again, thank you all for your support and stay tuned for Chapter 2: The Sword-Assault Battle.**_


	2. Chapter 2: The Sword-Assault Battle

_**Hi Everyone, Raydark here and just want to say welcome to our next chapter. If you can probably tell, we recently reuploaded this chapter to improve it. Hopefully everyone will be able to enjoy it.**_

 _ **Re-edited ~ 7/5/2016**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 2**_

 _ **The Sword-Assault Battle**_

 _ **Duel Academy**_

 _ **Outside the Slifer Red Dorms**_

With the evening approaching on Duel-Academy, the sun was setting as its shine began turning into a softer red color, giving off a warmth similar to that of a mother's hug. Though, in one specific area, the light was blocked off by the Slifer Red Dorm, casting a shadow that covered the road leading to it which had a group of Slifer Reds who were standing around in a circle. Most of them had their visors on, eagerly anticipating the show that was about to begin.

In the middle of this large circle, both Nick and Barclay stood opposite one another with, not only their visors on, but their individual Duel-Disks as well. By just the sight, anyone would be able to tell that the two were about to play against each other in a Duel.

Each Duelist extended the arm that wore their Duel-Disk, causing two small metal orbs to launch from the bottom, landing on the ground just a few feet away from each other. After a few seconds, the orbs began beeping as they opened, causing a black energy to emerge and expand, surrounding only them as it created what many know as a **Duel Dome**.

Once that happened, everyone's visors automatically activated as a voice repeated with each of them.

" **Augmented Solid Vision established, Duel Academy systems and Safety Protocol online.** "

Once it finished, the group cleared a big path as both Kanoa and Takashi walked forward, each one having their own special visors as well.

Takashi's visor was a simple black bar, though it somehow gave the impression of a blacksmith's visor. Kanoa had changed into more normal looking clothing; now wearing red board shorts with black and white tribal patterns, a white tank top under an indigo happi with the academy's symbol on the back and geta. The visor that Kanoa wore had a sportier feel to them, being bright yellow in color, but otherwise looked more like sunglasses.

"Alright gentleman, since you two seem keen on this, I'll be spectating directly to make sure things are fair. Give our **Ohana** a great show and do your best, okay?" Kanoa asked as the two students nodded with a smile on their faces.

Both brought their arms back, pressing a button on their touch screens that triggered a slight hum as their Digi-constructs manifested out from the space on their Duel-Disks.

Barclay construct was a golden-colored Claymore sword shape, having five individual spaces on the blade for the cards.

On the other-side, Nick's was a blue crescent-shape that resembled the moon in its half-crescent phase, having five individual spaces along the curve.

"Ready for a royal thrashing, Yank?" Barclay asked with a focused gaze and excited smirk on his face, completely erasing the lazy expression he had earlier.

"I don't know what a Yank is, but I'll assume those are fighting words!" Nick retorted with a grin, cracking his neck in anticipation at finally being able to have his first duel in the academy.

The brown-haired teen's enthusiasm waned for a moment at Nick's response. There was some giggling and snickering from the assembled crowd, though if any of them were thinking of the same definition as Barclay was unclear.

* * *

 **Nick** \- (4000)

 **Barclay** \- (4000)

"Let's Duel!" Both declared as the audience cheered, excited that the show was finally getting started. In seconds, both their pictures and Life-Point meters appeared on everyone's visor, indicating how many they would start off with.

"I'm about to Duel a **huddy, ament ah**?" he muttered, drawing his first five cards to make up his hand.

Nick drew as well before looking over to Bar, seeing if there was any indication that he wanted to go first. The only thing he did was jerk his head up slightly, indicating that Nick could go first.

"Alright, I draw!" The red-haired teen remarked as he drew his first card and looked down at the cards in his hand. He noticed that he had some decent cards that would help him in the turns to come, but decided to play it safe for now.

"I'll start things off by placing a Monster in defense Mode," Nick declared as the card materialized on the field sideways. "I'll end my turn with a face down card, show me what you got!"

Barclay chuckled a bit before he drew a card from his Deck and looked over his own hand to see what kind of strategy he could develop, though at the moment he could only do the basics due to not knowing much about Nick's dueling style.

"I'll play four cards face down," Barclay declared as the cards materialized in front of him. "Then I'll summon **Dawn Knight** (4/1400/1200) in Attack-Mode."

A young man with wild, long brown hair appeared on the field. He wore a pair of tinted goggles, a long red cape and a sword on his hip. From the neck down, he wore plate armor, the rivets in the armor standing out clearly and numerous leather straps could be seen holding the armor on the knight's body.

"I'll end my turn with that, back to you."

The move made Nick smiled as he was glad that despite his slacker attitude, Barclay does have skills when he duels.

"Not bad, but that's not gonna be enough, my Turn!" Nick declared as he draws and sees his next card, deciding to try and even the playing Field.

"Now to start, I'll activate a **Spell-card** , **Mystical Space Typhoon** , from my hand!" The card manifested as it revealed the card with the picture of a raging whirlwind. In mere seconds, a large storm emerged from the card and quickly targeted one of Barclay's cards on the field, destroying it as it was revealed to be the **Goblin Thief** Spell-Card.

"Tch... should've played that before I ended my Turn." Barclay muttered to himself after sending his card to the grave. "Rookie mistake..."

"Next off, I'll place another card Face-down on the field and end my Turn." the red-haired teen declared, finishing his turn as the card appeared.

Barclay drew and considered the field, seeing that the only issue to tackle was the defense monster that laid hidden on his opponent's field. Knowing that he couldn't play defense the entire duel, the duelist decided to take a chance and see what exactly Nick had, then revealed his face-down card.

"I'll activate **Compulsory Evacuation Device** , sending your Monster back to your Hand." He proclaimed as the card revealed itself, manifesting a large machine with a cannon on the top. In mere-seconds, two robotic-like hands extended, grabbing Nick's face-down card and loaded it into the machine. It then released a blast that sent the card flying upward before returning down to Nick's hand. "Leaving you wide open for **Dawn Knight's** Attack. Go **Dawn Knight** , attack his Life Points directly with **Pulse Strike!**!"

The monster shot forward as he drew its sword and delivered a glowing slash to its target. Nick held his guard and prepared for the impact, feeling the virtual sword hit its mark as the sensation became all too real. The attack knocked Nick flat on his back, causing many of the Slifer students to flinch.

 **Nick** \- (4000 - 2600)

The crowd cheered at Barclay's attack, making them wondering how exactly would their fellow Slifer would counter to it.

"Quite the impressive play he did, though I'm surprised that Nick didn't plan a counter to it." Takashi remarked as he looked at both of his new friends. His attention soon turned when the Head of their Dorm chuckled a bit, making him turn over towards him with an eyebrow raised in confusion.

"I wouldn't count him out just yet Takashi," Kanoa replied with a smug look on his face. "You may not see it, but that kid's got quite the heart, something like that won't easily take him down."

Takashi didn't understand what the older man was talking about, but didn't let it get to him as he turned back and continued to watch the duel in front of him.

Barclay was pleased with the outcome as his knight returned to his side and waiting for the next turn to attack.

"Your move, Yank." he remarked with a smug tone in his voice.

Ignoring the irritation that his voice gave, the red-haired teen drew his next card and added it to his hand, seeing what it was as it caused a smile to grow on his face.

 _Let's see how you like this move._ Nick thought to himself before grabbing his next card with his fingers.

"Alright Bar, time for me to show you what I really got! Now, from my hand, I'm gonna summon up one of my favorite monsters I have, **Summoner Monk** (4/800/1600), in Attack-mode!"

Right as the card materialized, a cloaked figure jumped out of the card, gently landing down as it was revealed to be the monster, focusing his red eyes on his master's opponent. There were a few murmurs from the crowd, wondering why the red-haired teen would summon such a weak monster.

"Only 800 Attack Points... Though I'm guessing that's not the real threat behind your monster, is it?" Barclay questioned as he noticed Nick start to crack his neck before continuing his turn.

"You got that right guv'nor, because now his Special Ability activates: Whenever **Monk** is Normal or Flipped summoned on the field, he has to switch himself from Attack into Defense Mode."

Right when Nick said that, the figure soon took a meditative stance and began to float slightly, showing his position in defense to everyone who wore a visor.

"Is that all?" Barclay asked, not believing that was the end to the monster's ability.

"Of course not, next I'll be triggering the second ability that he has: Thanks to that, by giving up one Spell Card in my hand," he remarked while discarding his **Anti-Magic Arrows** to the Graveyard. "I can Special Summon a Level Four monster from my Deck to the field." Nick added.

His monster soon began to glow with a white aura, moving his sleeve-covered arms forward and channeled energy through them. Eventually, it caused an orb of light to manifest before he turned around and shot it at his master's Duel Disk.

This caused Nick's Duel Disk to beep for a few seconds before it ejected his Deck out, allowing Nick to grab it and look through it. After a few moments, he finally found the card and reinserted his Deck, causing it to automatically be shuffled.

"Now say hello to my leading lady of my Deck, **Rose, Warrior of Revenge** (4/1600/600), in Defense Mode!"

A young, red-haired woman appeared on the field, wearing tight, black leather. She also wore a dark, blue chest plate, a long, flowing white scarf, combat boots, shoulder pads, something akin to gauntlets on her arms, and she was wielding a long, thin sword similar to a rapier.

Barclay's eyes widen with confusion at the move his opponent just did, not understanding why he summoned another card in Defense-mode. It was his first time seeing such a card, but he half-expected that his opponent would actually place her in Attack-mode.

"Did that last attack knock you on your head or something? You're either insane or just very desperate to not lose." Barclay commented, wondering what the heck his opponent was thinking.

"My special girl isn't just a normal monster, she's what the Dueling World calls a **Tuner Monster** , which means now I'm about to show you what I really got in this Deck!" Nick replied, gaining a grin on his face.

A gasp followed with everyone in the audience when they heard those words, realizing that things were about to get very serious in this Duel.

Even the brown-haired teen knew what those words meant.

"Damn, this is gonna get rough." Barclay grimaced and the confidence he had been displaying waned.

The red-haired teen smiled and grabbed both his cards from their spots to begin the process.

"Now **Rose** , let's bring out the big man himself!" The monster soon jumped up into the air, glowing in fire before four stars emerged from her and created three rings, causing them to slowly fall onto the other monster. "By tuning together my Level Four **Summoner Monk** with Level Four **Rose** , I can Syncro Summon my behemoth, **Stardust Dragon** (8/2500/2000) in Attack Mode!"

An explosion of stardust soon followed as it erupted upward and shined, following the sound of a large dragon that flew out from it as it slowly descended and gently landed next to Nick. Barclay had to shield his eyes from the display put on by the Summoning.

The dragon's appearance was a silver color with light blue areas on its entire body, having what looked like stars twinkling around its wings and limbs.

 _This guy has a_ _ **Signer Dragon**_ _?_ Barclay thought as he glared at the newly Summoned Monster.

The crowd soon looked in awe and cheered at what Nick did, making many wait in anticipation for what was going to happen next. Among those who were surprised, only Kanoa had a look of amusement by what he was witnessing, realizing that the Duel may reach its climax sooner than expected.

There was a bright future in front of him, one both Duelist would eventually walk as the years in the academy passed.

"Alright **Stardust** , let's show this guy what your made of, attack his **Dawn Knight** with **Shimmer Burst**!"

The dragon roared as it soon extended its wings, flapping them and releasing an array of stars straight at the opponent. Barclay braced himself as the wind struck him and his monster.

"I activate **Dawn Knight's** effect!" Barclay reacted instantly as his monster disintegrated into a thousand shards and his Life Points dropped.

 **Barclay** \- (4000 - 2900)

"This allows me to send one Light Attribute Monster from my Deck to the Graveyard."

The shards soon came together, forming a light crystal that shot right at the brown-haired teen's deck, causing a similar beeping to be heard. Like Nick's Duel Disk, Barclay's ejected the Deck and allowed him to search through it to find the monster he wanted to send to the graveyard. He finally found it and inserted it into his graveyard slot, returning the Deck into its own slot and causing it to automatically shuffle.

"Alright, that'll be it for me, I end my Turn." Nick remarked as his dragon relaxed at its master side, retracting its wings and looking forward.

Barclay looked at his opponent before declaring his turn and drawing his next card, seeing what it was. After looking at the card, the brown-haired teen nodded, like the card had said something, before continuing his turn.

"I'll be summoning **Noble Knight Drystan** (4/1800/800), in Attack Mode."

Another armor-clad man appeared on the field. This one had long reddish-brown hair, simple yet elegant looking armor, a pure white cape and held a lyre in his hands.

"Sorry, but you just activated my **Trap Card**!" Nick exclaimed as he revealed one of the cards he had face down on the field. " **Bottomless Trap Hole**! It not only Destroys any Monsters with 1500 or more Attack Points, it also Banishes them from the game!"

In an instant, a swarm of hands of darkness emerged up from the ground and began pulling the knight down. He attempted to resist and get away from their grip, but couldn't and was dragged into the dirt.

"Damn..." Barclay muttered as he grabbed the card and placed it in the Banished Zone, which was his Deck Case. "I end my Turn."

The crowd was starting to see where the match was going, some of them muttered amongst themselves at how incredible both Duelists were, especially some of the girls in the dorm. Several of the students had decided that the Duel was obviously going to Nick.

Nick didn't waste any time as he drew his next card and looked at it before turning his focus back onto his opponent, looking down at the cards that were still face down. The red-haired teen knew that the two cards still face down were either spells or traps, but he didn't know which kind, and knew that it was very risky to go in rash.

Looking over to his dragon, even knowing it was just a hologram, made eye contact with him and growled softly, stirring something in the Duelist's body and prompted him to take the risk once again.

"Alright **Stardust** , let's hit this guy again, **Shimmer Strike**!" Once more, the dragon extended its wings and another attack right at Barclay, causing most of the audience to gasp at the sudden turn of events.

 **Barclay** \- (2900 - 400)

The brown-haired teen could barely remain on his feet as the attack knocked him down on the ground, leaving him feeling weak after enduring the blow.

"I'll end my turn, hope you get something good," Nick informed his opponent in a polite way, trying to be civil and respectful despite having the advantage.

"I'm really stuck between a rock and a hard place right now..." Barclay muttered to himself as he panted a bit, getting back up on his feet and moving his hand to draw his deck. "Pray this next Card is enough to turn the tables..."

Knowing that he needed something to help, Barclay closed his eyes and gripped his card, hoping in his heart before taking it and opening one eye to see what it was.

The brown-haired teen couldn't help but smirk at the card he got. "At least it'll buy me some time."

Before Nick could say anything, Barclay quickly sent the card he just drew onto the field, making the audience roar with shock as they saw what it was.

"Say hello to the **Swords of Revealing Light**." Barclay declared with a confident tone in his voice. From the sky, numerous lights in the shape of swords flew down from the sky and surrounded Nick's Field, including his dragon. "Next up, I'll Activate another spell card, **Foolish Burial** : This allows me to send any monster from my Deck directly to my graveyard."

The Duel-disk beeped once more ejected Barclay's Deck and allowed him to search for the card, which he finally found and inserted it into the graveyard slot. Once again, the Deck was returned into its spot and was shuffled.

"And that's all for now," Barclay sighed as he ended his turn with a bit of disappointment. For now, all he could do was wait it out and hope that luck would be on his side the next three turns.

 _Don't know why he did that, but I better try and get this over with._ Nick thought to himself before beginning his turn and drawing once again.

"Here I go!" He proclaimed, looking down to see which card was given to him. After seeing it, an idea soon came to mind, one that could possibly win him the Duel, but knew it was yet again another risky gamble. Something urged him not to take another risk, but decided against listening to his instinct and continued his turn.

"Alright, now I'll send one card from my Hand to the Graveyard in order to Special Summon **The Tricky** (5/2000/1200), in attack mode."

The red-haired teen sent his **Assault Dog** to the Graveyard and summoned his newest monster, causing the area to be distorted slightly as a piece of the space bent, revealing the Spellcaster Monster as it stood at the ready in attack mode.

The Tricky appeared to look like a jester, having one red question mark on its face and one large one on its cream and black colored body, which had a long blue cape on its back.

 _Kinda creepy, that one..._ Barclay thought when he saw the monster.

After his monster came out, Nick initiated the next step as he took another card from his hand.

"Next up, I'm gonna summon **Arcane Apprentice** (2/1000/400) in Attack Mode."

between both **Stardust Dragon** and **Tricky** , a small fire emerged as the newest Monster came from it, shooting up in the air and landing down as the fire disappeared. It was revealed to appear in its purple cloak and a staff in hand.

"Now that I have these two guys on my Field, I'm gonna now tune them together my Level Five **Tricky** with Level Two **Arcane Apprentice** in order to Syncro Summon **Clear Wing Syncro Dragon** (7/2500/2000)!"

 _Another Synchro?_ Barclay exclaimed in his head. _And this time one of the_ _ **Four Dimension Dragons**_ _?_

Similar to how **Stardust** manifested, **Clear Wing** flew in from the glow of light as the two creatures merged together, roaring before it took its place alongside Nick.

This dragon was seen to have an almost humanoid-robot like appearance, having cybernetic armor and wings that glowed bright green as it slowly descending next to Nick.

"That's not all, thanks to my **Arcane Apprentice** , I can add one special trap card from my deck to my Hand, **Assault Mode**."

From Clear-Wing, a small orb of purple energy emerged and descended down towards the red-haired teen's Duel-disk, entering it and causing it to beep three times. After the last one, a single card came out as Nick took it and revealed it, causing a projection so that not only Barclay could see it, but the crowd as well. After that, his deck reshuffled itself once again as he added it to his hand.

When he was finished, the red-haired teen realized that wasn't much else he could do given the **Swords of Revealing Light** were still in effect.

"Since your damn spell is still in play, I can't attack so I have to end my turn this time."

"Lucky me." Barclay replied sarcastically as he drew, seeing that the card couldn't help him much and simply added it to his hand. "I'll set one card Face Down and end my turn."

The tension in the crowd was starting to build up as everyone knew that Nick only had one more turn left before he would be able to make his move.

He drew once again, looking down to be surprised at the card he just drew, realizing that now was the time for the final part of his plan. "Alright, time for me to bring out **Stardust'** s dancing partner! I summon **Unknown Syncron** (1/0/0) in Attack-Mode!"

A small ball of light came down, revealing itself to be a mechanical sphere with one red cybernetic eye and a few loose pieces of metal coming off from its body.

"Now, I'll Tune **Unknown Syncron** with **Clear Wing** for another Synchro Summon!" Nick shouted excitedly. "Come on out, **Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons** (8/3000/3000) in Attack Mode!"

Where light once stood, darkness soon started to take hold as the shadows crept up and manifested themselves into a new Beast, one of the **Duel Dragons** as he would call it. Barclay looked like he had just swallowed his tongue. This new Monster would be near impossible to get rid of.

Barclay wondered if he should just concede Defeat now or wait to see what his next Card would be. He knew that the **Swords of Revealing Light** would only last another turn, so he wasn't left with a lot of options.

"Now with both of my Dragons out and about, I'm gonna put an end to this Duel here and now, because now we're gonna go from Syncro Summoning into the power of **Xyz Summoning'**."

 _He's what?_ Barclay thought, feeling panic trying to creep in on him. _If he's getting rid of that_ _ **Duel Dragon**_ _and the_ _ **Signer Dragon**_ _, what Monster is he bringing out now?_

"I overlay my **Stardust Dragon** with **Beezle**! With these two monsters I build the Overlay Network and Xyz Summon. **Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis** (R8/3000/2400), in Attack mode!"

A powerful explosion occurred, catching everyone in the audience as they held their ground and yelled from the large gust of wind. Once it died down, they all looked forward and were surprised by a massive dragon appeared on the field. It has bright red skin and wore blinding gold armor with wings that looked like flames. Heat waves radiated off of the monster and, even though it was a hologram, Barclay began to sweat.

Nick noticed his opponent's nervousness, but then realized that he couldn't activate his monster's ability due to the lack of monsters he had in either his field or hand.

"I'll end my turn with his arrival, but I hope you get something that can handle this guy, otherwise this Duel's done."

"We'll see," Barclay sighed as he drew, looking to find that it wasn't anything useful to help him. His chances weren't looking any better, making him start to fear the inevitable. "I'll place one card face down and end my turn."

Nick drew and saw that it was a familiar card, then activated it as it appeared onto the field. "Alright, I'll activate my second **Space Typhoon** in order to blow away another face down card you have!"

Once again, a twister emerged from the card hit the last remaining face-down card, which was revealed as **Dimensional Prison** , causing Barclay to quietly curse as he knew that card was his best bet of surviving an attack from **Heliopolis**.

The red-haired teen couldn't help but feel a bit bad for his opponent, who couldn't fight back with much and was on the verge of losing the Duel.

"I'll finish things off by place a card face down and ending my turn," Nick remarked as he placed the face down card and looked over to Barclay to see with this turn, the swords began to disappear from the field, indicating that the spell card's effect wore off.

Despite not having any idea what else he could, the brown-haired teen didn't give up and drew once again, this time however, a smile soon appeared on his face.

Suddenly Lady Luck was on his side and he was going to make sure not to waste it.

"From my hand, I summon **Noble Knight Borz** (4/1700/900), in Attack Mode," he declared.

Soon enough, a young man with short cropped black hair appeared on the field from his card, jumping up and landing on his feet. The Monster wore surprisingly ornate armor that was blue and silver.

"Not only that, I activate and equip him with this Equip-spell, **Noble Arms of Destiny**."

Suddenly the monster started to glow as two shapes began to take form on both his hands, one holding a large broad silver sword while the other held a matching silver shield.

"By equipping **Borz** with a **Noble Arms** , his Level grows by one and he becomes a Dark Monster."

The bright looking Monster suddenly looked more sinister after being equipped, making him look as if he was a corrupt warrior that would destroy everything in its path.

"This gives him the ability to let me reveal three of my **Noble Arms** cards from my Deck." Barclay continued explaining as the monster turned around, moving his shield forward and shining a light to his master's Deck. Soon enough, the Duel Disk beeped a few times, ejecting the deck as the brown-haired teen began looking through, picking the three cards and reinserting his Deck back into its spot.

After it shuffled automatically, Barclay revealed the three cards he chose **Noble Arms - Caliburn** , **Noble Arms - Arefeudytr** and **Noble Arms - Gallatin**.

"Doing this, you pick one of them to add to my hand..." Nick's visor picked up the cards and their abilities, allowing him to make it easier to pick the card, which he finally did after a couple minutes of contemplation, "I'll pick the **Arefeudytr** card."

"Alright, **Noble Arms - Arefeudytr** goes to my Hand, the other two to the Graveyard," Barclay continued as he placed the card in his hand and sent the other two to his Graveyard. "Next I activate the trap, **Call of the Haunted** , which now lets me bring back one of the monsters I have in my grave, and I choose to bring back **Ignoble Knight of Black Laundsallyn** (5/2000/800), in Attack mode."

After grabbing the card from the Graveyard slot, the brown-haired teen revealed it to Nick and summoned it to the field. A purple mist of sorts surrounded Barclay's field, causing a figure to emerge from the ground to reveal the newest monster.

Many of the audience saw an older man, older than **Borz** anyways, appeared now with long black hair, glowing red eyes, pitch black armor and a long shadowy black cape. Shadows appeared to emanate from the new Monster, wispy tendrils of shadows flickering off his body almost like he was engulfed in flames.

"Now, I'll bring together my **Ignoble Knight of Black Laundsallyn** with my **Noble Knight Borz** and use them to construct the Overlay Network and Xyz Summon, **Sacred Noble Knight of King Artorigus** (R5/2200/2200), in Attack mode!"

The two Monsters became black-purple flames that swirled together into a large glowing orb, slamming into the black vortex above as a new figure soon came down, eventually stopping next to Barclay.

His appearance was revealed to be that of a powerful young man in regal armor, having spiked reddish-brown hair and a red cape. Much of the Monster's armor, and his cape, appeared to be trimmed with fur, having a sort of rule around them.

"Also something to know, thanks to the effect of **Noble Arms of Destiny** , I can re-equip it to **King Artorigus**." Barclay added with a more confidence tone in his voice. Everyone could see that he wasn't going to let up and was getting ready to show them an incredible comeback.

Light glowed around the new monster, taking the forms of the same pure silver shield and sword that had been equipped to **Borz** had fallen to the ground during the Xyz Summoning.

"Finally, I activate my last Spell card, **Noble Arms - Gallatin** , equipping it to **King Artorigus** and giving him a boost of 1000 Attack Points." Barclay stated as a sheathed sword appeared on **King Artorigus'** waist.

 **King Artorigus** \- (2200 - 3200).

"I also activate **King Artorigus'** Ability, which allows me to target up to three **Noble Arms** Spells from my Graveyard with different names and equip them to him."

He went through his Graveyard quickly and grabbed the only one that he could actually use due to the restriction of his card's effect.

"As **Noble Arms - Caliburn** is the only other card with a different name, it's the only one I can use," Barclay remarked, equipping it to **King Artorigus** causing a second sheathed sword to appear on the Monster's waist. "It gives him another 500 Attack points."

 **King Artorigus** \- (3200 - 3700)

With three weapons equipped to itself, the monster was starting to show a change in his appearance as he now looked to be slightly demonic and menacing, almost like he was a demon as his power grew.

"I then use **Caliburn's** ability to gain back 500 Life Points." The second sword glowed green as sparks from it flew upward and towards Barclay's Duel Disk.

 **Barclay** \- (400 - 900)

The glow not only increased his life points, but also healed some of the scratches that he gained from the last attack that his opponent dealt him.

"Now, with a grand total of 3700 Attack Points, **King Artorigus**! Slay the **Hieratic** with **King's Strike**!"

 **King Artorigus** charged the massive Monster, shield forward and sword arm drawn back, ready to slash.

"Sorry, that's not gonna happen. Go **Scrap-Iron Scarecrow**!" Nick exclaimed, revealing one of the face down's that Nick had kept hidden for so long.

A poorly constructed scarecrow appeared in front of the Attacking Monster. It looked like a strong wind would knock it over, yet **King Artorigus'** attack was successfully stopped by the trap card.

"Not only does it protect my Dragon, thanks to its second ability, it automatically sets itself face down again to let me use whenever I wish. Which means my Dragon is safe for another Turn!"

"Or is it?" Barclay countered with a grin on his face. "By using one of the **King'** s overlay units, his special ability now allows me to destroy one monster on the field, and I choose your Dragon!"

One of the glowing orbs that was orbiting **King Artorigus** shot out at **Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis**. When the orb reached the Dragon it exploded, shattering the Monster and causing it to rain down on Nick.

"Damn!" The red-haired teen yelled out as he guarded himself against the explosion, when it stopped, he turned to see his opponent smile as the knight knelt next to him and awaited his next order.

"I'll end my Turn."

Cheers erupted as the crowd could not believe what had just happened, especially Takashi and Kanoa. All of them witnessed a turnaround that even some Pro-Duelists weren't able to pull off.

Hearing those words along with the crowd's cheering, Nick went ahead and drew his next card, taking a look at it but finding himself getting frustrated as it wasn't anything that could help him.

"I... end my turn," was the only thing he could say.

"Now, since it's my Standby Phase, **Noble Arms - Gallitin** drops 200 Attack from **King Artorigus**." Barclay commented after he drew his card.

His monster now began to lose some of the darkness, causing some parts of his armor to begin cracking as well.

 **King Artorigus** (3700 - 3500)

"To start off, I activate **Noble Arms - Caliburn's** special ability once again to gain another 500 Life Points." he declared as the sword glowed once again and made his own body glow.

 **Barclay** \- (900 - 1400)

 _Damn it all... How the hell is he turning this all around?_ Nick thought to himself, trying to understand what was going wrong with his entire strategy.

"I then equip **King Artorigus** with yet another equip spell, **Noble Arms - Arfeudutyr** that's in my hand."

Soon, a third sword manifested on the monster, appearing on its back.

"Not only that, I activate its special ability: By dropping the attack points of **King Artorigus** by another 500, I can select any face down card that's on the field and destroy it. In this case, your **Scrap-Iron Scarecrow**!"

The Xyz monster stabbed the sword in-hand in the ground, drawing the black-blade on his back and pointing it directly at the face down trap card. It glowed brightly before it extended forward, stabbing the card and causing it to break apart.

 **King Artorigus** \- (3500 - 3000)

"And now, with nothing else to defend you, my monster will once again attack you directly!" The Xyz monster soon returned the other blade back into its sheath before pulling the one he stabbed into the ground. Yet again, **King Artorigus** charged at Nick with the larger blade, jumping upward and slicing down to try and hit his mark.

"Sorry, I still got one more safe spot!" Nick replied with a smirk as he pressed a button to reveal the last face card that he still had face down. Soon after it was revealed, a large stone hand emerged from the ground as it entered itself into a black vortex that appeared and began searching around for something.

"Now thanks to my Trap Card, **Pinpoint Guard** , I can Re-Summon a Level Four Monster from my Graveyard and bring it back to the Field!"

The stone soon began tugging as it eventually came back with the monster that Nick chose to bring back to the field, his **Assault Dog** (4/1200/800).

The Doberman in armor had machine guns mounted on the both sides with belts of ammo feeding into them, and cybernetic eyes that allowed it to see its master's opponent attempt to attack it. Suddenly, a barrier emerged as **King Artorigus** slashed at the dog, but didn't destroy it, causing the King to retreat back to its original spot.

"Plus, thanks to **Pinpoint Guard's** Second Ability, my dog isn't Destroyed this turn." Nick concluded with a smirk directed at Barclay, who saw it and scoffed at his opponent.

"I'll end my turn, go ahead and draw your card."

The red-haired teen took his hand and drew yet another card, looking at it, but only gritted his teeth in frustration before adding it with the other cards he still had in his hand.

"I'll end my turn, again..."

Barclay chuckled as he took his turn and drew, seeing that it was something to use for later.

"Now once again, **King Artorigus** loses another 200 Attack points and **Noble Arms - Caliburn** gives me 500 more Life Points." the brown-haired teen repeated as his monster soon dropped down to 2800 attack points while his life points grew to 1900.

"Now by removing his last overlay unit, I trigger his special ability once again and destroy that mutt of yours."

The last orb circling the Monster flew at the armored Doberman and exploded, clearing the Field once again as Nick braced himself for the impact, realizing that there was nothing left for him to use.

"And now, let's finish this once and for all, **King Artorigus** , finish him off with **Sacred Knight's Strike**!"

The monster, for the third time this duel, charged right at Nick's side of the Field, leading with the silver shield. Once close enough, the Monster slashed at Nick, knocking him a good few feet back.

 **Nick** \- (2600 - 0)

 **Barclay** \- (1400) Winner

* * *

Once Nick's Life Points hit zero and the holograms faded away, everyone clapped and cheered for the victory, while Barclay simply exhaled a breath of nervous relief, knowing how close he was to losing the duel.

"That was far too close..." he muttered, looking over to look at Nick, who was sighing with frustration as he got up to dust himself off from the dirt on his clothes.

Once he had calmed down enough from the Duel that he wasn't physically shaking, Barclay walked over and extended his hand to Nick.

" **Barry Duel, min.** " he said. Then, realizing that Nick had no idea what he had just said, repeated himself. "Fantastic Duel, mate."

Nick sighed before standing up, extending his own hand to grab his as the two shook and smiled, acknowledging themselves as real rivals and friends.

Their moment was interrupted when most of the dorm came running towards them, swarming them in seconds as they were asked multiple questions in mere-seconds by all of their fellow Slifer dorm-mates.

Takashi crossed his arms and gave a gentle smile, going over to try and help them out while he left the head of the dorm to himself. Kanoa got up and saw the two teens talking to their fellow classmates, which brought a smile to his face as he knew then and there that this year was going to be quite the experience for all of them.

* * *

 _ **Woot! A close Duel! That we actually had! Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Like Raydark mentioned up above, we are reuploading several of our chapters (nothing too major, I think, just making some edits we missed and trying to up the level of the descriptions).**_

 _ **Also, it was brought to our attention that it's not always clear what some of the characters are saying, so we are now including translations down here at the bottom as needed.**_

Translations:

"I'm about to Duel a huddy, ament ah?" - "I'm about to Duel an idiot, aren't I?"

"Barry Duel, min." - "Fantastic Duel, mate."


	3. Chapter 3: Challenge the Memories

_**The third chapter's a good place to start introducing more characters, right? ... No? Oh well, we've already done that. Below we're introducing some more characters, some a little more vaguely. Anyways! New characters could mean anything! Will they be new friends or new foes?**_

 _ **Re-edited ~ 9/16/2016**_

 _ **Chapter 3**_

 _ **Challenge the Memories**_

* * *

 _ **Main Building**_

 _ **Classroom**_

Days passed as the first week of the academy came to an end, leading to the next week of official classes to begin as most of the students were now simply getting used to their new curriculum. Each class related to Dueling in one way or another, whether that be Deck Construction, Duel History, strategy, and so on.

Despite the Duel-focused classes, the academy still functioned as a normal school providing most of the students with a standard curriculum as well, including Reading, Writing, Math, Physical Education, and clubs for students who wish to expand themselves and their knowledge.

For two particular freshmen, their last class before going to have lunch was about Deck Construction, which was a necessity for every Duelist, since many rely on specific types of Decks to win.

Inside the classroom the layout was similar to a university, in which there were only combined desks with separate chairs for students to sit as they were all in rows that lead down to the podium. Their teacher, who showed to have a Ra-Yellow teacher uniform, was standing and lecturing with a high-tech microphone headset on.

Many students looked on with either focused, confused, or dazed looks on their faces. Two in particular, Nick and Barclay, sat next to each other in the middle of the class. Each of them had their separate Decks out as the red-haired teen looked on and listened to the instructor's words carefully.

Meanwhile, his brown-haired neighbor had his head down on the desk, Deck next to his arm, and managed to sneak in an early nap before lunch.

After finishing his lesson, the teacher smiled before closing the book in his hand and going back to his podium as he looked around at his students.

"Now to have a little fun, like many different types of flowers, all Duelist have their own kind of Decks to use. Today, we will be viewing and determining what kind of Decks many of you have." he remarked before looking around. Only a few people looked on with excitement, most others simply didn't seem to care.

"Would anyone like to be first to come up?" the teacher asked with a curious tone. "See if anyone else in the class can guess what sort of Deck you have created?"

There was the usual silence that fills a classroom whenever the teacher asks for volunteers. The silence was almost overwhelming, even deafening for some until it was suddenly broken by the sound of snoring. Snickering immediately broke out and all the tension was gone. The source of the snoring was identified as Barclay, who moved his head out from his arms.

Nick realized all eyes were on him and soon delivered a quick elbow to his neighbor's side, interrupting his nap and causing Barclay to jump up and mutter to himself.

"Mr. Fyfe! How kind of you to volunteer." the teacher said with ill-concealed aggravation, causing the class to burst in laughter.

Barclay looked confused for a second, still waking up, then caught on to what he was supposed to be doing. With a sigh, he stood up while grabbing his Deck from the desk he was sitting at, and headed down to the teacher while letting out a large yawn.

He reached the podium, setting his Deck down next to a square grid projector before giving his teacher a look of boredom. He then drew the first card, looking at it, and laying it right next to his Deck as a beeping was soon heard. In mere moments, a Solid-Vision Hologram emerged, just as if a normal Duel Monster was summoned.

The monster that appeared was a pale skinned woman with long blond hair and blue eyes. She wore a light blue outfit with a blue cloak, silver knee-high greaves, a silver ornamental belt, silver choker, silver earrings, and a silver hair accessory.

"Interesting choice, now then, would anyone like to guess what sort of Deck this monster belongs in?" the teacher inquired with a curious tone.

Again the teacher was met by silence, no one seemed to be able to recognize the monster or what archetype it belonged too.

Nick, on the other hand, knew the answer but decided to remain silent, figuring it would be unfair for him to answer without giving others a chance.

"She's called **Lady of the Lake**." Barclay said lazily, yawning once again.

Once the name came up, a few hands sprung up from around the classroom, causing the teacher to smile before picking a student at the far corner.

"A **Noble Knight** Deck." the student answered as the brown-haired student nodded, making the teacher shout correct as the class were amazed by how the person figured it out.

"Can I go now?" Barclay asked in a monotone voice, causing the teacher to make a dismissive gesture, allowing him to grab his Deck and card before returning to his seat. The student's attitude elicited some snickering from a few students, while others looked at him disapprovingly.

Before the teacher could ask for another volunteer, Nick ran up to the front of the class, eager to have his turn and be done with it, rather than wait any longer.

Once he reached the projector, Nick drew from the top of his Deck and placed the card on the same spot as Barclay, causing the projector to activate once more.

A large shimmering silver dragon appeared. Blue and purple sections were visible on the monster as well as vicious looking claws. Though normally twice the size of an average monster, the machine augmented the Solid-Vision to make it around the size of a normal person, allowing all to see it clearly.

The teacher once again asked the question and picked another student, this time a female student that was sitting in the front row.

" **Stardust Dragon**." the student responded. "It could go into any number of Decks easily."

"I bet his Deck is something like a **Tuning** Deck, right?" Another student asked, looking to see the red-haired student shake his head.

He shook his head again and again as many people tried to guess what it was, eventually leading to the teacher not asking for any more volunteers.

"Alright, Nick, since no one seems to have guessed what kind of Deck this is, why don't you please enlighten us?" The teacher remarked, making some of the students turn their attention towards their fellow classmate.

"Well technically speaking, some of the answers are somewhat right, but I would have to say my style of Dueling uses an **Assault-Mode** archetype mixed in with some **Synchro** and **Xyz** monsters for back-ups." Nick remarked.

This caused some confusion as students murmured to themselves, wondering how a Duelist can even use such a mix-up of cards and win. Their hushed whispers were immediately silenced by a loud bellowing laugh which echoed through the area, making everyone, including Nick and Barclay, turn towards the source of it.

Sitting near the highest row, a tall young man with black hair, buzzed off on the sides and back, and slight facial hair. His skin is noticeably darker than most everyone else's, due to a lifetime spent in the sun. The outfit he currently wore was a slightly modified Ra-yellow student uniform, the jacket extending further past his waist, no extended collar and the normally white band around the collar being yellow. He also wore the jacket opened and revealing a muscle shirt underneath.

"Just like a Slifer slacker, thinking you can just mash cards together and hope they work. No wonder you're at the bottom of the worthless pile." the older teen remarked with a cocky tone. This caused a large number of the Obelisk blue and Ra-yellow students in the room to laugh at his remark.

"Hey! What's your problem dude?" Nick remarked with an annoyed tone as he looked up to the person who started the laughter. "My Deck isn't just some mash-up of cards, I put a lot of time and energy into making sure I had something that worked well together."

"From what I heard," the older teen replied, pointing at Barclay. "You totally blew it against that guy's **Noble Knight** Deck, which just proves that the only effective Deck is one with an obvious archetype."

"That Duel didn't prove anything like that!" Nick countered, starting to get annoyed by his classmate's disrespect. "Besides! Decks with obvious themes have obvious weaknesses! Anyone can counter a themed Deck! My Deck is harder to counter because you never know what card I could draw!"

"Yeah, right." the Ra-yellow student chuckled with malice in his tone. The Obelisk blue students around him were egging their leader on and congratulating him on his _comeback_.

"Save your breath, Nick." Barclay said, cutting Nick off before he could continue arguing. "No need to argue with an Obelisk brown-noser."

Several of the students, most of them Slifers, laughed at the remark that their classmate said.

"Why you-" the insulted party started, jumping to his feet but soon stopped when a book slammed on the ground, catching everyone's attention. The instructor had an irritated look on his face as everyone soon fell silent, except for Barclay.

"Besides, there's a much easier way to settle this argument, and everyone knows it."

"That's correct." the teacher replied, walking away from the podium and looking around at his students with a stern gaze. It quickly reminded everyone that there was still an authority figure in the room. "The two of you could Duel, _after_ my class. Nick, please return to your seat."

The three words in that sentence carried the weight and meaning that only a teacher could impart. He soon nodded and grabbed his Deck before making his way back to his seat.

The only sounds he could hear were whispers and mummers about the _supposed_ Duel that would take place, along with how badly he'd lose by some of the Obelisk students.

Nick simply ignored the whispers and sat back down, looking forward as the teacher continued talking once again. After only a few minutes, the bell soon rang, allowing the students to grab their stuff and exit the class for lunch.

Nobody knew that this lunch period would bring about a big change to the hierarchy of the academy.

* * *

 _ **Cafeteria**_

The cafeteria was a large, relatively open space with linoleum floors and bright lights with numerous tables spread out across the floor, most having at least four chairs to them. Though there were some tables near large windows looking out across some of the Academy's best views. These tables had only two chairs to them and had been quickly taken by couples or Obelisk blues.

About half of the tables in the entire area were taken, or simply left with the leftovers of other people's lunches. Sections had been clearly made, Obelisk blues, Ra-yellows and Slifer reds all sitting in separate areas and far away from one another.

The two roommates walked through the double-doors, smelling the aroma of food as their stomachs growled in hunger. In a few minutes, the two were able to wait in line and grab food for themselves as they looked around to find a place to sit.

On the Slifer red section, the massive figure that was Takashi waved to his two friends, indicating the chairs he had saved for them.

Nick and Barclay walked over, pulling out their chairs while taking a seat, though Nick did it in an angry fashion as he slammed down his food and quickly began to eat. It was almost like he hadn't eaten in months and it was now his first taste of real food.

The large student looked on in shock, never seeing his friend act like this in the time they got to know each other, wondering what exactly happened to him.

"Uh Nick... Is everything alright?" He inquired in a worried tone.

"Mphf pmfh!" The red-haired teen replied with a mouth full of burger as a few pieces flew out onto his tray.

Not understanding a single word he was saying, the giant turned his attention to Barclay, who simply had a look of annoyance by how his roommate was eating.

"He got into an argument with some Ra Yellow in our last class." the brown-haired teen informed their puzzled friend. "They're going to Duel at some point, later today most likely."

"Oh? Sorry to hear that, Nick." Takashi remarked. Then he started scanning the crowd to see if he could spot which Ra-yellow his friend had gotten into an argument with. "Which one?"

Nick pointed at his new adversary, who was once again surrounded by Obelisk Blues.

"Oh! Sorry! Nick!" Takashi exclaimed, chuckling a bit when he saw who his friend was pointing to. "That's **Jessie Alexandros** , a sophomore and one of the upcoming stars on the campus. You can't possibly be Dueling him, he's pretty much guaranteed to become an Obelisk Blue at the next **Promotion Exam**."

"No, that's exactly who he got in a fight with." Barclay sighed with an annoyed tone in his voice, continuing to eat his meal. Takashi's laughter died immediately and his face became serious as he turned to face Nick, who turned his attention and suddenly had a surprised look on his face.

"What?" was all their large friend said.

The red-haired teen saw a deadpan look on the large teen's face, almost as if someone had done something stupid and the joke itself wasn't funny to him.

After swallowing his food with some juice that he got, Nick was able to talk normally as he began to explain the situation and retell what happened during their class. By the end of it, all Takashi could do was look on with shock and realize that while his friend may have been a bit foolish to try and Duel someone out of his league, he admired Nick for standing up for his belief.

"I see." Takashi remarked as the brown-haired teen yawned and looked over to Nick, who finally managed to calm down and breathe out a sigh of frustration. "I shouldn't be surprised, Jessie has been known for riling up people, especially the new freshmen that start off at the Slifer dorms."

"No kidding, guy loves to hear himself talk, that's for sure." Barclay added as he turned his head to see the Ra student laughing obnoxiously with girls giggling around him.

"Just pisses me off, guy's nothing but an airhead, how someone like that doofus ended up in the next rank or is even considered a prodigy is beyond me-"

Just as he finished his sentence, a carton of milk flew across the cafeteria and slammed right against Nick's head, spilling all over his clothes and on Barclay and Takashi as well.

"Hey Slacker, thought you might be thirsty!" Jessie remarked with a loud laugh as many others in the cafeteria joined in.

In throwing the milk, it was the straw broke the camel's back as it caused Nick to enter into a rage once again, standing up from his spot and glaring right over where Jessie was. In seconds, he just left his chair and headed right over to where the group was, breathing heavily in rage, making people realize something bad was about to happen.

Barclay and Takashi were quick to follow their fuming friend, Takashi trying to calm him down with words. Barclay was simply wringing out his clothes and was more interested in having a front row seat to whatever was about to happen. Having never seen Nick like this, he was curious to see what his roommate would do when mad, so they would be able to deal with him effectively if this red-head were to get like this again in the future.

"Takashi, make sure you're ready to grab the **bampot**." Barclay muttered.

His warning caught on as the red-haired teen roared out and was about to jump at the Ra-yellow, causing the two to quickly drag him back, all while he kept venting.

The Obelisk blues all jumped up and stood in front of their leader, egging the Slifer student on to try something.

"Think you're so tough don't you?! Having all those pathetic cronies around you like some kind of boss, bet you don't have real guts in your entire body to face me like a real Duelist!" Nick bellowed out, causing most of the students in the cafeteria to laugh and jeer, mocking Jessie when they heard the insults dealt to him.

The crew of students around Jessie were ready to pounce on the red-haired Slifer, but stopped when their leader pushed them aside and walked towards the trio. Barclay and Takashi let go of Nick as he finally managed to calm down.

When Jessie stopped right in front of his classmate, the two gave a hardened glare at the other, causing the crowd to become silent as they waited to see what was about to happen.

"You think I'm afraid of some loser like you? Fine, let's see if you got some skill to back-up all that tough guy crap you're doing, but let's make it a bit more interesting." Jessie began as Nick deepened his frown.

Leaning a bit closer, the Ra student began whispering something, causing Nick to widen his eyes in shock before looking back at his opponent's face.

"If you got the balls to actually agree, meet me tomorrow at the north end of the Forest, we'll have our Duel there."

With that last statement, Jessie turned away and began to leave the cafeteria with his followers right behind him, leaving the red-haired student standing there in a daze.

As the trio left, they were unaware that there were a couple of Ra Yellow students who watched them leave. One, with pale skin, silver hair and red eyes, had a smile on her face as she kept her eyes on Nick.

* * *

 _ **Slifer-Dorm**_

After leaving the cafeteria and spending the rest of the day going to their normal classes, the day ended for the trio as they soon returned back to their dorm. They found themselves sitting in the **Common Area** of the building. The trio sat at one of the large round tables with Nick's Deck spread out, looking them over to see what kind of plan he could come up with.

The red-haired teen was still agitated, but he was also somewhat distracted by what Jessie had said before leaving, unable to keep any kind of thought for more than a few minutes.

"Do you know what kind of Deck the guy uses?" Barclay asked, pulling Nick out of his thoughts as he looked over to Takashi to see what he had to say.

"From most of the records, his Deck uses the **Heroic** archetype." the large student answered. Both of his friends had heard of the type of monsters used with that Deck, knowing that it wasn't going to be easy. As luck would have it, their large friend reached one of his pockets and pulled out a card, placing it on the table in front of his red-haired friend before pushing it forward.

Nick picked it up to take a better look at it.

" **One Day of Peace** ," Takashi explained, "It'll protect you and give you a chance to come back from any plan that he might have for you."

"I can't just take your card, Takashi." Nick remarked with a shocked tone, unable to bring himself to take something that belonged to his friend.

"You _need_ this card Nick," the large student replied, "A **Heroic** Deck can quickly put very powerful monsters on the field, and if you don't have anything to protect yourself, the Duel's done."

Despite wanting to protest even more, Nick knew that he didn't have any other excuses for not wanting to take the card, and decided to honor his friends wish.

"Since we're helping you out," Barclay added with a sigh, clearly still annoyed with his roommate as he reached into his Deck case and pulled out a card. "Here, **Compulsory Evacuation Device** , you already know how it works and what it can do. And from the sounds of it, I'm betting this card will come in handy, and don't think you're just taking it from me, I've got copies so it's no big deal."

Looking at the two cards in his hands, Nick couldn't help but smile widely, looking over to give that smile to his friends as he took out two cards he had in his Deck and added them to it.

"Thanks so much guys, this really means a lot to me," the red-haired teen replied with a cheerful tone as he then went into his pocket to grab a pack that he had bought from the Card Store.

"Nick... Can I ask you something?" Takashi inquired, making his friend stop from opening the pack and providing him his undivided attention. "Why exactly are you doing all this?"

"Aside from being a brash American." Barclay muttered in annoyance.

After putting all of his cards together, Nick looked at his friends and realized maybe it was time he told someone about why he got so frustrated with Jessie.

"When Jessie came up to me, telling me that to up the stakes, he wanted me to bet my worthless, good for nothing Deck and give it to him if I lose..."

The two sitting in front of him widen their eyes in shock, never expecting the red-haired student to say something like that, especially when they knew that his Deck was almost like a second arm to any student in the academy.

"THAT **BLOODY DOBBER** DID WHAT?!" Barclay roared after the initial shock wore off and was rapidly replaced with anger. " **Fa in their reit min' bets their Deck oan a Duel?** "

The brown-haired teen continued to rant in increasingly unintelligible language. The other two had no idea what he was saying and were sitting dumbstruck at the slacker's sudden outburst. He finally calmed down, returned to his seat and let out a long sigh.

"You were saying?" he prompted after clearing his throat a bit.

"Look, what didn't get me was that bet, it's just... How he kept constantly dissing this Deck, he has no idea how much this Deck really means to me and hear him just disrespect it..."

The tone in his voice caused his friends to raise an eyebrow, wondering why Nick was so attached to those specific cards, even though there were multiple copies that existed.

"These cards aren't just cards to me, they represent an idea I have for myself not just as a Duelist, but as a person. When I was younger, my parents always worked and rarely ever came home, often leaving me in the care of my grandparents whenever they had to leave for the day. I should've been pissed, but I wasn't... It's because I knew that each time I would go there, they would have a special card for me that they got from the local card store."

Nick began drawing the cards once again, spreading them on the table while he continued telling his tale.

"Each time I went there and saw them leave, my grandpa or grandma gave me another card to cheer me up, adding to a collection of mismatched cards I had in my Deck case. When I had enough for a full Deck, my grandpa began to teach me how to Duel the right away, having fun and trying your best with what you have."

He soon stopped as the last two cards were placed at the top with the rest of them below, showing it in an unusual order with most of the monsters on top, spells in the middle, and traps at the end.

"After they passed away last year, I was forced to stay home alone for the first time in ages, hating every single moment of it even when I was in my own room. Though when I look at these cards, all that comes to mind is me remembering how my grandfather lived and what he wished for. That's why I get mad when someone disrespects my Deck, they don't just disrespect paper, they disrespect the dreams that each one of these cards carry. No matter what happens, I'm gonna show that prick that this Deck is great and that I don't need to stick to one style to win."

When Nick finished his explanation, he looked up from his cards and saw tears gushing from Takashi's eyes.

"I'b jus' so moob'd!" Takashi sobbed, wrapping his massive arms around the red-headed teen and easily lifting him off of the ground. The air was flooded with the sounds of pops and cracks and all of the air being crushed out of the smaller teen's lungs.

"Careful, Takashi." Barclay said softly, gently patting one of the giant arms. "You don't want to break the poor lad."

Takashi nodded and gently set Nick down on the ground. When he released his friend, Nick found his body lacked any strength after the bear hug he had received and clung to the table for support. Barclay pushed a chair over for his roommate, who gratefully collapsed into the seat.

"Now, if you feel you and your Deck are prepared for this foolish Duel tomorrow, then you should get some sleep." Barclay told him with a gentle tone. "But with your Deck on the line, I think it's a **mingin** idea to go through with this."

Nick managed to get himself together and looked at both is friends, who were giving him a supportive look, making him grin cheerfully before deciding to hit the hay, realizing tomorrow was going to be a big day.

* * *

 _ **The Next Day**_

 _ **North end of Forest**_

The area was pretty much exactly what one would expect of a forest. Large trees everywhere, their leaves blocking out large portions of the sun's light. A large clearing was the designated meeting spot. A circle of about 40 feet across, like the trees had either been purposely cleared, or intentionally planted around this area, in order to create a perfectly clear spot for Duels to take place.

On one side of the clearing was Jessie Alexandros and his posse of Obelisk Blues, looking as smug as ever. On the opposite end of the clearing was Nick and his friends. Unseen by either group, four more eyes looked upon the clearing as they muttered to one another while waiting for the match to start.

Both opponents step-forward as the two grabbed their Duel-Disks and placed it on their weaker arm, activating them as the probes launched once again. The holographic dome soon appeared as it expanded and reached the edge of the Dueling spot, stopping just at the edge.

While Nick's disk was the same, Jessie's was a bit different as the Digi-construct was yellow and in the shape of a lightning bolt. The Duel Disk he had on his arm was a simple circle, but with an ornate boarder, looking almost like carved marble. The image of an eagle in flight is on the center, the Life Points displayed on its wings.

Soon enough, the hologram simulator dome activated as everyone around them placed their visors to make sure they could see everything, leaving only two simple words left to be said.

"Let's Duel!"

* * *

 _ **Now we come to our first ever rival duel, and boy it's gonna be a dozy. Thank you all for reading this chapter and we hope that the re-edited chapter is better than the previous one. For those wondering, we will be continuing to re-edit the other chapters And post the new ones, hopefully both will be great. Stayed tuned for our next chapter, The Tale of Battle: Nick vs Jessie.**_

 **Translations:**

 **Bampot** \- an idiot, unhinged person

 **Bloody dobber** \- Bloody: used to express anger, annoyance, or shock, or simply for emphasis; Dobber: a fool/stupid person. Also means "dickhead"

 **Fa in their reit min' bets their Deck oan a Duel?** \- "Who in their right mind bets their Deck on a Duel?"

 **Mingin** \- horrible/dirty


	4. Ch 4: The Tale of Battle: Nick vs Jessie

_**The Duel between Nick and Jessie begins! Who will be victorious? Will the good guys win (like they always do in most stories) or will Jessie be the winner? Like all the Duels we will be having in this story, we actually conducted the Duel ourselves to find out! Also, who's that watching the Duel from the shadows?**_

 _ **Chapter 4**_

 _ **The Tale of Battle: Nick vs Jessie**_

 _ **Re-edit 23/9/2016**_

* * *

 _ **North Forest Clearing**_

Where once stood the hollow emptiness of the forest, now the sounds of humming could be heard as a large dome emerged around a part, enclosing the trees around there. In the inside of the dome, Nick and Jessie both stood on opposite sides with their allies behind them, each one wearing their visors to see what was about to happen.

Once they drew their first five cards, their match officially began.

 **Nick** \- 4000 LP

 **Jessie** \- 4000 LP

"Age before beauty." Nick remarked with a grin on his face as Jessie sneered at him before drawing the first card.

"I start off by play two cards face down on the field," Jessie remarked the projections of the cards appeared on his side of the field. "Then I summon **Heroic Challenger** – **Double Lance** in attack mode (4/1700/900), ending my turn."

On the field appeared a knight in full armor. The armor was smooth, giving it a more futuristic look, and was mostly colored white and light blue. In both hands, the monster held dual spears that were about as tall as itself. The spears had blue staves and pale yellow heads.

"Alright, here I go!" Nick yelled out as he drew the first card and started making his move. "First off, I activate the spell, **Galaxy Cyclone** , which lets me pick one of your two set cards and destroy it."

Once the card manifested itself, the area soon changed into that of space as suddenly a whirlwind appeared from the distance and hit one of his oppnent's face down cards. It was revealed to be the trap card, **Copy Knight** , which soon broke into digital pieces as Jessie grabbed it from its spot on his duel-disk. He then sent it to the graveyard slot.

"Next, I'll play a monster face down in defense mode followed by these two cards face down, that'll do it for me." Nick remarked as the cards appeared in front of him.

His opponent drew his first card and smiled when he saw what it was.

"I summon **Heroic Challenger** \- **Extra Sword** (4/1000/1000) in attack mode!"

Another fully armored monster appeared on the field. This one, however, was much sharper looking than Jessie's other monster. This one wore armor that had two distinct shades of green with silver accents. It also wielded two straight-edged, double-sided swords.

"With them on my side, I can now merge them together in order to build the Overlay Network. Here we go, now with these weaklings, I Xyz Summon this bad boy, **Heroic Challenger** **\- Excalibur** (R4/2000/2000)!"

The two monsters on the field became red and orange flames that swirled together. From the fiery orb emerged the new monster. It was twice the size of the previous two monsters. Also fully clad in armor, this monster wore red and white armor that gave it a somewhat regal look. The monster's helm bore a large yellow trident-esque protrusion.

Before Jessie could even bask in the glory, reality slapped him right in the face and brought him back to the land of the living.

"Sorry, you just fell for my trap!" Nick remarked, revealing the face-down card he had placed on the field. "Go, **Bottomless Trap Hole!** "

A massive hole opened in the ground beneath Excalibur and countless dark hands shot out and grabbed the monster to drag it down. There was some struggle as the monster was swallowed by the chasm.

"Thanks to this, not only does your card get destroyed, it gets banished as well!"

"Lucky move, slacker." Jessie growled with annoyance in his voice as he ended his turn, grabbing the card and putting it in his deck case, which also served as the removal pile for most duels.

"Luck had nothing to do with it." Nick replied as he drew his next card, looking down to see what it was.

Soon after, he moved his hand to the face-down card he previously placed, flipping it into attack mode and revealing his **Assault Dog** (4/1200/800). The card flipped straight up, revealing the monster as a beam light shined from it. Soon enough, an armored Doberman jumped out and landed on the field.

The black dog wore army-green armor with a blue ammo case on its back with ammo belts feeding into two machine guns mounted on the dog's flanks.

"Now from my hand, I summon **Rose, Warrior of Revenge** (4/1600/1200) in attack mode."

A red-headed female appeared on the field, wearing a blue mercenary-suit and a flowing white scarf, and holding rapier in one hand as she stood ready to strike.

"Ha! Now I activate my own trap, slacker!" Jessie smirked as he played his own copy of **Bottomless Trap Hole** and the same thing happened to Rose, making Nick frown at his opponent.

Despite the initial set back, the red-haired teen didn't seem to be too phased by it.

"Doesn't matter, I still got my friend, go **Assault Dog!** Attack his life points directly, **Howling Barrage!** "

The dog let loose a vicious bark and its flank guns began firing at Jessie. The trail of bullets shot dirt up into the air as the attack got closer and closer to hitting its target. Once the attack made contact, Assault Dog howled happily that its mission was successfully completed.

 **Nick** \- 4000 LP

 **Jessie** \- (4000 - 2800) LP

* * *

"I'll lay a face down on the field and end it there, your move." Nick added as he set the card on the field.

Jessie drew his next card, adding it to his hand as he took another one and looked back to Nick.

"I summon **King's Knight** (4/1600/1400) in attack mode!" he yelled out, summoning the monster on the field. "And equip him with this spell card, **Magnum Shield**!"

An older looking man appeared on the field. He had a blond beard visible on his face and long blond hair running down his back over a royal blue cape. It wore yellow armor with black and white accents, yellow frill and several other accents and accessories that made the monster look more like a King. It even wore a crown. In one hand, it held a large broad sword. The other hand had held a round shield that matched the Monster's armor, but that was quickly replaced by a rectangular shaped shield. The new shield was red with gold boarders.

"Now his attack is boosted by his defense, giving him a grand total of 3000 attack points!" Jessie roared confidently, directing his had at Nick.

 **King's Knight** (4/1600/1400 - 4/3000/1400)

"Go! Destroy that Mutt! **Diamond Slash!** "

King's Knight charged at Nick's side of the field, ready to destroy Assault Dog. Once close enough, **King's Knight** struck at Nick's monster four times, each swing leaving a trail in the air and created the shape of a diamond in the blink of an eye.

"Not so fast Jessie, I activate my trap card, **Defense Draw**!" Nick responded as the card lifted upward to reveal itself. "Now thanks to this, the damage I would've taken is to negate, plus I can also draw a new card to my hand."

His **Assault Dog** disintegrated into countless polygons, but they all soon flew backwards to the red-haired teen's duel-disk. Soon enough, the top card of his deck was glowing as he then drew it and added it to his hand.

"In addition, I activate my **Assault Dog's** special ability, allowing me to special summon any number of **Assault Dogs** from my deck when destroyed by battle!" Nick added.

His deck was then ejected from the slot, allowing him to search the deck for the copies, finding one and reinserting the whole deck back in. In a matter of seconds, it locked back in and automatically shuffled itself.

Soon enough, a second **Assault Dog** came on the field, turning blue as it was put in defense mode.

The move made his opponent scoff in arrogance.

"You're just putting off the inevitable!" Jessie snarled, ending his turn without doing anything else.

Nick drew his next card before looking at his hand, knowing now was the time to bring out one of his recent cards he acquired from the pack he bought.

"Alright," He began to say, having a big smile on his face. "For my turn, I summon my **Star Drawing** (4/1600/1000) to the field in attack mode!"

A rather cutesy monster appeared on the field with light surrounding it. It's shape was that of a small and round being with cutesy eyes as some would think it was some kind of robot. It wore a black beret and held a yellow want with a pink bow and had several heart shaped decorations.

No one was entirely sure of what to make of this monster that clearly did not aesthetically fit in with the cards that had already been played. Even both Barclay and Takashi were baffled by how exactly did the monster on the field will help him.

"Now here's a familiar move you might recognize Jessie, I'm merging together both my **Assault Dog** and **Star Drawing!** "

The two monsters became bright white lights and began rapidly orbiting each other until it looked like they had become a solid ring.

"With these two monsters together, I can bring out the overlay network and xyz summon the newest ally of my deck! Go, **Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon** (R4/2500/2000)!"

A massive black and purple dragon appeared on the field. It had a somewhat demonic-looking appearance, with a forked tail, long horns and vicious looking fangs on its lower jaw with talons and claws that looked no less fierce. The monster had a rather dark aura about it as the two lights, representing its Overlay Material, quietly orbited the Dragon.

"It's still weaker than my **King's Knight!** " Jessie reminded him as he started to laugh. He clearly thought Nick was just wasting his move, or it was just some sorry attempt to try and save face.

"Like always, that pea-sized brain of your's doesn't have a clue." Nick commented with a grin on his face. "First off, thanks to the successful summoning, **Star Drawing's** ability kicks in, letting me draw one new card from my deck and add it to my hand."

Some of the audience members realized now why he had summoned **Star Drawing** , awestruck by how a monster without any correlation with his deck was actually useful in the duel.

Soon enough, a bright star soon came from the sky, hitting the duel-disk of the slifer student, causing the top card to once again glow brightly.

Nick drew the card, not bothering to look at it just yet as he needed to stay on task with the plan that was currently going on.

"Now I activate my **Rebellion Dragon's** special ability, by giving up both of his overlay units, he can drain your **King's Knight's** attack points by half and add it to his own."

The lights floated over to **King's Knight** and circled him a couple of times, causing him to roar out in pain as energy began to leak out from its body. His opponent roared out and opened its mouth as the energy was soon drawing into the dragon, making it glow brighter with darkness and in size.

 **King's Knight** (4/3000/1400 - 4/1500/1400)

 **Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon** (R4/2500/2000 - R4/4000/2000)

"Go **Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!** " Nick ordered as he thrusted his hand forward. "Destroy his monster with **Black Burn!** "

The dragon released an evil looking black flame from its mouth right at the Knight, engulfing the warrior in flames as it bellowed out in pain, soon burning to ash as it disappeared from the field. The difference in attack points resulted in 2500 points of damage for Jessie.

 **Nick** \- 4000 LP

 **Jessie** \- (2800 - 300)LP

* * *

"Alright, I'll finish up by playing one card face down, let's see what you got." Nick taunted.

After drawing, his opponent glared and started tightening his empty hand in rage, making it shake as he soon calmed down.

"I play one card face down on the field and end my turn." Jessie growled as it appeared in front of him.

"I draw," Nick remarked as he drew his next card and took a look at his hand, trying to decide whether or not to risk summoning another powerful monster with the advantage he had. His memory of the duel with Barclay made him realize that he couldn't make the same mistake as before, but now, there was a difference. Trusting his heart, the red-haired teen went on the offensive with his dragon.

"Alright Rebellion, let's finish this guy off, attack his Life Points directly! **Black Burn!** "

Before the dragon could move, a giant metallic hand suddenly grabbed it and dragged it towards Jessie's field as a machine appeared from the face-down card he activated.

"I activate my trap, **Compulsory Evacuation Device**!" Jessie countered as the hand forced the dragon into the hole, causing the machine to start up. In a few seconds, energy soon erupted, causing the dragon to roar in pain as it disappeared into a flash of light.

The red-haired teen glared as he had to take the card from his digi-construct and put it back in the extra deck slot on his duel-disk.

"I'll finish my turn by setting one card in defense mode." Nick replied with a sigh.

With a smile on his face for the first time since the duel began, Jessie drew his card and added it to his hand before grabbing another one and playing it.

"I Summon **Heroic Challenger** \- **Spartan** (4/1600/1000) in attack mode!"

A monster with a flowing red cape, massive round shield and long spear appeared on the field. While still having a futuristic look, the monster still clearly had the appearance of a warrior from Sparta.

"Now let's take care of that worthless face-down card! Spartan, wipe it out with your **Flying Dory!** "

The warrior focused energy into its spear before throwing it upward, causing it to angle as it attempted to hit the card. Before it could make contact, a guardian of sorts soon manifested in front of the card with a shield, taking the blow.

"You triggered my trap card, **Draining Shield!** " Nick revealed, showing the face-down card he had on the field "Not only does it protect my monster, but now my life points increase by your Spartan's Attack!"

The spear bounced back and was caught by Spartan, but when it did, orbs of green light soon began emerging from the monster as they drew towards Nick. They entered his body and caused him to glow for a few short seconds before it ended.

 **Nick** \- (4000 - 5600) LP

 **Jessie** \- 300 LP

* * *

Seeing what had just happened, Jessie cursed silently under his breath before ending his turn.

"You starting to get it now?" Nick inquired as he drew his next card. "My deck isn't some piece of garbage, it's a deck that can handle even the strongest of duelist."

"You're just hiding behind traps like one of those coward stall duelists!" Jessie snapped at his opponent, growling at him.

The statement made a demonic aura appear behind the red-haired teen's side, making the other side look over to find Takashi giving a look of anger at the Ra-student.

"We'll see about that, I end my turn." Nick continued, ending his turn without making a single move.

Once again, Jessie drew before playing another card into his digi-construct.

"I activate the spell, **Mystical Space Typhoon!** "

The swirling vortex erupted from the card when it projected onto the field and flew at Nick's side of the field to destroy his facedown card, which was his **Scrap Iron Scarecrow** trap card.

"Now Spartan, let's wipe out this pathetic scum's monster, attack!"

This time, rather than throwing its spear, the warrior roared out and sprinted towards the set monster. Once it got close enough, it jumped up and thrust its spear forward, hitting the monster as it was revealed to be **Unknown Synchron** (1/0/0). In an instant, Spartan pushed forward, destroying the monster as it then jumped back to its master's side.

"That ends my turn." Jessie spat out in disgust.

"And now mine comes back." Nick replied, looking down to find that he wasn't doing too well with the cards he had on hand. All he could do was set another monster in defense mode to protect his life points, ending his turn.

"Here we go again! I play one card face down on the field, and then, I order Spartan to rip that worthless card of yours to shreds!"

Once again, Spartan charged towards the face down and impaled it with the spear, revealing it to be **Assault Beast** (4/1900/1200) before it broke into millions of sparkles, ending Jessie's turn.

Nick started thinking that there might not be hope, wondering if there was anything that could turn the tables back to his favor.

With his next draw, the answer to his problem came as he silently thanked his deck for hearing his pleas.

"It's your lucky day Jessie, I decided to give you a break from all that attacking by activating the spell, **One Day of Peace**."

Right as the card manifested, Takashi, who had calmed himself from the rage he had been in from Jessie's earlier comment, cheered loudly as he grabbed Barclay with one hand and spun around.

"Thanks to my friend who gave me this card, we each get to draw one new card from our decks."

Two orbs of light emerged from the card, shooting straight away from each other and entering the duel-disks of both students. This time, both of their top cards were glowing brightly.

Soon enough, they drew the card and added them to their hands.

"The only draw back to this is that neither one of us can do any kind of damage to the other until the end of your next turn."

Luck continued to be on Nick's side when he saw the card that was added, looking at the hand before him and realizing now was the time.

"Hope your ready to see the full power of this deck!" he declared. "I'll start off by activating an ability from hand, sending one card to the graveyard in order to special summon **The Tricky** (5/2000/1200) in attack mode!"

The space in front of Nick distorted as a jester-looking monster warped into existence. It had black stripes over a beige base and had two large red question marks on it, one on the face and one of the chest. A blue cape fluttered behind it.

"Next up, I summon one of my eyes in the sky, **Genex Ally Birdman** (3/1400/400) in attack mode!"

A small, squat looking creature appeared. It was mostly green, with a large yellow beak and had a pair of large white wings, what looked like wings on the back of its head and white tail feathers. It, like many of Nick's monsters, looked somewhat robotic, if not a bizarre suit of armor.

"Now it's time to really get things going! I tune together my level 5 **Tricky** and level 3 **Birdman** in order to Synchro Summon, **Stardust Dragon** (8/2500/2000) in attack mode!"

Blinding silver light enveloped the field. As the light faded, a shimmering silver dragon hovered over over the ground. Its appearance was becoming very familiar to those who spent time around Nick.

"And I'm not done yet, I now activate my trump card, **Assault Mode!** " Nick declared, revealing the last face-down card he still had left on the field. "Alright Stardust, let's show this guy what it means to level up, **Assault Mode Activate!** "

The normally svelte looking dragon suddenly became enveloped with a bright white-light, causing a metamorphosis of the dragon as the light soon started to die down. After it stopped, everyone saw a much more built and appeared to now be wearing some kind of armor. There was a lot more blue on the normally silvery-white monster. Other than that, its appearance did not appear to have changed much.

"Say hello to my **Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode** (10/3000/2500) in attack mode!" Nick remarked with pride in his voice. "I'll end my turn with this, now let's see what you got, Jessie."

Everyone was in awe by what they witnessed, especially since rarely did anyone actually succeed in summoning the **Assault Mode** monsters, even Barclay couldn't help but gasp in awe. He had wondered where the card was all this time during his duel, causing a feeling of excitement to surge in his body.

"I' play one card face down and end my turn." Jessie snarled as the card soon appeared in front of him. The Ra-student was now fuming with rage, his face becoming about the same shade as his opponent's jacket.

"I'll set one card face down, and because your turn passed, the effects from **One Day of Peace** are gone and we both can now take normal damage." Nick explained before continuing his turn. "Stardust, time to show this prick what you're made of, attack his Spartan with **Double Quasar Burst!** "

The dragon released a powerful, shimmering silver blast from its mouth as it flew towards Jessie's side of the field. Before it could hit however, a knight clad in green and white armor soon appeared from the air and landed on the floor. In both hands, it held large shields with sharp protrusions on the tops and bottoms of them.

"Ha! By discarding **Heroic Challenger** \- **Swordshield** , I take no damage from battle and all **Heroic Challenger** monsters survive!"

 **Swordshield** brought the shields in front of him and raised them upward, creating a larger energy barrier, which the blast hit and broke through, destroying the monster and protecting Jessie's monster.

"I also activate **Damage Condenser** , which means by discarding one card from my hand, I can special summon a monster from my deck that has attack points equal to or less than the damage I just took."

Behind Jessie, a large machine that had two electric generators on the side appeared, looking like something out of a science fiction movie

That statement made everyone confused, especially Nick, who could only raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"Wait, but you didn't take any damage, so how can you even activate it?" Nick asked with a curious tone in his voice.

"You just let me worry about that, Slacker." Jessie retorted as he waited for his deck slot to unlock and push his deck out for him to find the specific monster.

"Sorry, but regardless of whether you think it applies or not, it doesn't matter." Nick replied, causing Jessie to freeze.

"What?" He inquired, looking up slowly with pure rage expressed on his face.

"I activate my **Stardust** 's Special Ability!"

"...What?!"

"By sacrificing him this turn, your trap cards gets negated."

"WHAT?!"

"Meaning you can't use it at all!"

Soon enough, **Stardust** 's blue parts of his body began to glow brightly as it shot up a beam of light into the air, hitting the machine and destroying it in seconds.

Jessie angrily roared out in frustration, falling on his knees and slamming his fist right into the ground.

It took him a few seconds to regain his composure and get back up.

"With that, I end my turn, which also means **Stardust** 's second ability activates: Whenever he's tributed and negates any kind of card on the field this turn, Stardust can come back to my side of the field."

A small silver light quietly lowered from the sky and stopped several feet above the ground. For a few seconds nothing happened. Then a brilliant burst of light blinded everyone watching the duel. When their vision returned, the massive silver dragon was back on the field.

It took quite a bit of struggling for Jessie to even place his hand atop his deck to draw, his thoughts were enraged by what was happening.

 _This was suppose to be easy! This worthless Slifer loser is nothing, I am the strongest student in the whole damn dorm! This can't be happening..._ was all Jessie could think of as he looked at the card he just drew.

"I play one card face down and change **Spartan** into defense mode."

A card appeared in front of Jessie as his monster kneeled down and brought its massive shield up, blocking the it from sight.

"...That's all." Jessie spat out with a dark tone.

Nick drew his card, taking a look at it to find that it could come in handy later, but decided to take another shot at his opponent.

"Alright, let's try this one more time, **Stardust** attack!"

Once again, the dragon released a powerful, shimmering silver blast from its mouth and aimed right at Spartan.

"Sorry Slacker, I activate **Battleguard Howling!** " Jessie yelled as the face-down card he had on the field revealed itself. An ogre soon emerged and began howling.

"Already forgot haven't we? **Stardust**! " Nick shouted, activating his monster's effect again as the light shined right at the trap card.

The dragon and it's attack both vanished from the field while Jessie's trap harmlessly shattered, causing a vein to start pulsing on his forehead.

"Since my attack got stopped once again, I'll end my turn, which means once again, **Stardust** comes back to my field."

Again, a light lowered onto the field. This time, everyone was prepared and shielded their eyes before the light erupted in a blinding fashion, and when it stopped all could see the dragon had returned once more.

Jessie drew his card and quickly played it, making Nick's eyes widen as he recognized the card before him.

"How's this move?! I activate **Galaxy Cyclone** ," Jessie growled with rage as the area transformed the same way when Nick used it. The cyclone targeted one of Nick's two face-down cards, destroying it in mere-moments.

"...Just go..." was all the dark-haired student could say as his fists were shaking in rage.

The red-haired teen drew his next card and only placed it face-down on the field, declaring his turn over.

This time, after Jessie drew the card, a cocky grin came about as he turned back to his opponent.

"My turn! I change **Heroic Challenger** \- **Spartan** back to attack mode," Jessie growled as his warrior changed back into its fighting stance once more. "And activate my ace, **Heroic Chance!** This doubles **Spartan'** s attack points to 3200! More than enough to destroy your damned dragon!"

When the spell showed up, a burning light soon surrounded Spartan as his armor started glowing like a solar flare, making it look like it was improved as the flames surrounded him. His monster then pulled back his spear in an attempt to throw it, but soon found itself grabbed by a familiar metallic hand.

"Not so fast! I think you're familiar with this card, Jessie." Nick declared as he activated his own copy of **Compulsory Evacuation Device** , causing the same action to occur like it did with his **Rebellion Dragon**. The monster and its weapon were ejected from the field and the attack failed to make contact.

Right after that, all hell broke loose.

"Damn you!" Jessie snarled and suddenly went in a blind rage, activating the spell **Dark Hole** from his hand in an attempt to destroy the monster by any means.

"That won't work." Nick stated in a blunt tone as the effects of **Stardust** countered before the card could even manifest itself completely. Again, the dragon vanished from the field, leaving his opponent to bellow out in rage and growl like he was some form of animal.

His posse looked on in shock, never seeing their leader act this way before. A few of them even slowly backed away from him before they would get caught in his tantrum.

After a few minutes, Jessie finally seemed to settle down enough to make a move and set a face down defense monster and ended his turn. He was so angry that he was visibly shaking with rage and refused to speak.

"I set a card face down on the field," Nick announced after drawing his card. "Now, if there isn't another interruption, Go **Stardust**!"

The Dragon fired its shimmering silver blast for a third time and succeed in destroying **Heroic Challenger** \- **Spartan** , breaking it into millions of digital pieces.

"With that, I'll end my turn."

Jessie had no words left to say, no witty remark or even bashful comment, all he had was just empty resolve as he placed a card face-down on the field, ending his turn.

His entourage looked on with shock at what was going on, not believing it with their own eyes, their idol was losing the duel he himself boasted about. All of his speeches, his trash-talk, and even the declarations were nothing but empty words in their eyes now.

"This deck has no endurance," Barclay muttered to Takashi, who turned his head to look at him. "This is totally a sprinting deck."

"Sprinting deck?" Takashi asked with curiosity.

"Not an official term, far as I'm aware." Barclay replied as he began to explain. "This deck seems to need to take control in the beginning and maintain control from there. Otherwise, the wielder won't be able to react to anything the opponent dishes out, which spells trouble for Jessie overall."

Nick drew and looked over to see his opponent, who was seething with rage and frustration while breathing heavily. Despite knowing that he had gotten even, Nick couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"Despite what you may think of me Jessie, you have an amazing deck, maybe one day you'll learn to better appreciate it and others as well."

Nick activated the card he just drew from his hand.

"I finish this off with my spell, **Mystical Space Typhoon** , destroying the last face-down card you have on the field."

The, by now, very familiar swirling vortex sped across the field and destroyed Jessie's face down card, **Heroic Advance**.

" **Stardust** , let's end this, attack his life points directly and end the duel!"

The dragon roared and soon flew upwards, causing its body to envelop in a white aura as it stopped mid-air, changing direction and going downward. Before long, the impact connected with Jessie, who yelled out in pain as he was sent flying backwards by the impact of the hologram.

 **Nick** \- 5600 LP

 **Jessie** \- (300 - 0) LP

* * *

The dome slowly de-materialized and eventually disappeared, causing both probes to reactivate and launch themselves back into their separate duel disk. All anyone could hear throughout the area was hushed silence, no wind blew and only the quiet breathing of everyone present filled the air.

After taking off his visor and putting his deck back into his case, Nick walked over to Jessie, who was off his back and now on his knees, still shocked by the defeat that befell him.

While he knew that the two were on bad terms, the red-haired teen wanted to try and at least bury the hatchet as to not have anymore situations like this. Takashi and Barclay only stepped a few feet closer, wanting to make sure that none of the other people would try and jump their friend.

When Nick finally stopped in front of Jessie, he took a deep breath and let it out, catching the attention of the person in front of him. Despite him still not looking upward, the teen decided to just say his peace and hope for the best.

"I won Jessie, you lost, that's fact. Though I saw how strong-willed you are and what an incredible deck you have, but it doesn't mean that you can just go around and insult other people like you're king of the world. No more you hear? From now on, you don't judge other people or their deck styles since you lost to someone who had no style, deal?"

The red-head offered his hand to his opponent. After a few moments of silence, Jessie took Nick's hand, and the younger teen felt thrilled that his peace offering was successful.

The joy died immediately, as he felt a heavy impact. Pain shot through his head, originating from his right eye. The force was enough to knock him off of his feet. He gasped in pain as all the wind was knocked from his body when he hit the ground, then stared up at the sky through the canopy, wondering what had just happened.

Disoriented, Nick struggled to get up from the ground as he heard the sounds of a brawl starting just a few meters from him. At least he thought that's what it was, everything was kind of fuzzy. It sounded like shouting, someone else getting hit, something about a deck...

Soon enough, that came to a grinding halt when a loud familiar female voice was heard.

" _ **What is going on here?!**_ "

In that instant, everyone in the struggle stopped what they were doing and turned to the direction of the voice. Soon enough, most of them all were shivering in fear, while some even whispered how screwed they all were.

Nick managed to prop himself up on his elbows and saw that it was the Head-Mistress, who was stepping into the clearing followed by two unfamiliar Ra-students behind her.

"So, this is how students of **Duel Academy** behave after losing?! Fighting amongst one another like toddlers on the playground?!"

Nobody dared to say anything as the groups split up, Jessie's group staying among themselves while Takashi and Barclay, who had some bruises developing on their bodies, went to help up their friend from the ground.

"Mr. Alexandros!"

The group suddenly moved away from one another as the person behind the royale stood alone, making him glare at his former minions before focusing his attention back on the person in front of him.

"Would you care to explain what exactly is going on around here, and Why mr. Brood is hurt with a black eye?!"

The silence that followed was excruciating for all present as they saw him trying to think of how to get out of that situation. Soon enough, his voice broke that silence.

"This student challenged me to a duel," Jessie began to explain, his tone clearly trying to make it seem like he was the victim. "He insisted that we ante up our decks as part of the duel. I thought that if I could beat him, it would teach him the consequences for illegal actions like this! But, he somehow cheated, and then tried to take my deck regardless. I hit him to protect myself, which caused his two goons to come charging in. My friends had to come to my rescue, which resulted in this brawl Head-Mistress."

The dark-skinned woman raised an eyebrow in suspicion after hearing the story. Before she could speak though, a second voice interrupted.

" **Haverin' dobber!** " Nick shouted after getting up, walking towards them. He wasn't too sure what he had just said, but he had heard Barclay muttering it enough to hazard using it in this situation.

"What did you call me?" Jessie snarled as he turned to face Nick, whose didn't back down.

"He called you a liar." Barclay answered, following his friend with Takashi right behind. Soon enough, the large student began to talk.

"Head-Mistress, on my honor as a second year student of the Slifer dorm, I assure you that Jessie's explanation is completely false!" Takashi added as he suddenly knelt down in a respectful way. "Nick did not cheat in any way, in fact, he was only offering a peaceful resolution to the conflict they both had endured only to be punched in the eye by his opponent."

"He's a liar Head-Mistress!" Jessie retorted, but stopped when her gaze soon landed on him, causing him to flinch slightly.

"Takashi Matsumoto has been at this academy for a year now, and not once has he ever shown anyone any ill remorse or lied in any circumstance." she remarked with a confident tone. "We will discuss this further in my office Mr. Brood... Now, as for the rest of you, I suggest you turn around and leave the area immediately, or else I will have to rethink my rule on corporal punishment!"

"Yes Head-Mistress!" Jessie's group saluted before taking off like a bat colony out of hell, leaving only a dust cloud behind.

"...Worthless scum..." the Ra-student muttered under his breath.

"Mr. Alexandros, I will have you begin your journey to my office, where we will discuss an appropriate punishment on this situation." She ordered him, causing Jessie to bow in respect before taking his leave as well. None of them noticed him turning his head, looking right at Nick.

 _Enjoy your little victory you worthless slacker, I'll get you for this, no matter what it takes!_ were the last thoughts he had in his mind before he simply turned around and continued the walk.

After Head-Mistress Ward saw him leave, her attention turned back towards the trio, who were groaning slightly with some of the injuries that they received.

"Mr. Brood, come here please." she ordered in a more calm tone, making Nick look up and quickly make his way towards her. After he stopped, she gently grabbed the sides of his head and leaned in a bit closer, analyzing the black eye. "Well it doesn't appear too bad, however I recommend that you and your friends head to the **Nurse's Office** to have a look over."

"Yes Head-Mistress," the trio remarked with a respectful tone.

With that last statement, the Head-Mistress let go of Nick's head and began walking out of the forest, but paused mid-step as she turned her head to look over her shoulder at them.

"Though I do recommend this to you three: The next time you decide to have an illegal duel on the campus, the punishment you will receive will be far more severe than what your opponents will have."

That statement sent a chill down their spines, even Barclay knew that she wasn't kidding around. After she made her way out of the clearing, they could only let out a sigh of relief before turning their attention to the two girls that were still there.

"I guess we have you two to thank for helping us out?" Nick asked with his hand over his eye, starting to feel it swell up and hurt from the punch he took.

"That's right!" one of them replied with a cheerful demeanor as she winked at Nick, putting her hands behind her back and smiling. She had short silver hair with a longer left bang that reached the bottom of her chin. She also had fair skin and a large bust, which was constricted with her uniform. Her red eyes also showed to have noticeably pronounced irises. She wore the usual uniform, though she had leggings that appeared to have been sewn into the skirt, which ended a little bit above her yellow boots. "I'm **Laura Nyberg** , first year Ra-yellow. And this, is my friend **Sera Tadros** , also a first year Ra."

Laura gestured to the girl next to her. This girl had dark skin, purple eyes and dark brown hair with bright pink bangs. Her hair reached the middle of her back and she had an average figure, at least it was compared to Laura. She wore the standard Ra Yellow jacket in proper form, over a black skirt and yellow boots. Sera gave a sort of shy, little half-wave.

"Now that introductions are out of the way..." Laura continued with a happy little smile on her face. "Let's talk about how you're going to thank us!"

"Thank you? So you two were the ones who told the Head-Mistress about what was going on?" Takashi inquired as he looked at them.

"She called her, I just didn't care about some dumb old argument to bother." Sera pointed her thumb at her friend, adding a cold tone.

The trio of boys raised an eyebrow in confusion at her response.

"Oh don't mind her, Sera loves to be moody all the time, and yeah. I figured it wasn't fair that prick was gonna gang up on you and take your deck even after you won."

"Well thanks, I appreciate it, I'm Nick Brood and I owe you one."

"You may call me Takashi Matsumoto!"

"...Barclay."

"Like I was saying..." Laura started again, pouting a bit that the conversation wasn't going like she wanted. "Let's talk about how you're going to thank us for helping you!"

She began herding everyone back towards the academy building, with her aim being for the Nurse's Office.

"I'm thinking you can start off by buying us Lunch." the silver-haired girl was saying. "Then, hm... What do you think should follow that up, Sera? Oh! How about dessert! I like those fancy parfaits they have in the cafeteria, you know? The ones that are, like, 1600 yen. Then, ooh! How about you buy us some cards?"

Laura continued talking, making plans for weeks to come as she led them to their destination.

All the trio could do was listen on, still feeling the bruises of their hollow victory and knowing that they accomplished a striking blow against people like Jessie.

* * *

 _ **And there we have the end of this chapter, for those who are confused to some of the new stuff we did, after looking up some of the information on how others do Yu-Gi-Oh fanfictions, we decided to try a similar method and found that it works pretty well: It consists of putting monsters information with (Level/Attack/Defense), though if the monster is XYZ, it will go (R-Level/Attack/Defense). The second thing is showing the life-points in between the writing, better showing people when the damage is taken and by how much. Let us know how we did on this chapter and stayed tuned for what's in store on the next one!**_

 **Translations** :

" **Haverin' dobber!** " - "Lying bastard!"


	5. Chapter 5: A Day at the Mall Part 1

_**Welcome all to chapter five of Dual Guardians, for those who stayed, thank you from the bottom of mine and Lee's hearts as we worked hard to bring this together even though we live in different places. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me or Lee and we'll get to it as soon as possible. So now Sit back, relax, and enjoy the newest chapter**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 5**_

 _ **A Day at the Mall Part 1**_

 _ **Duel Academy Mall**_

A few years ago, a large construction project was started on Duel Academy's island; for a few months the air was filled with the sounds of hammers, saws and cursing. When the construction ended, the island had a new building for the students to spend their time and money when not attending their classes: a mall.

"At this rate, we're going to be completely **brassic**." Barclay sighed as he and Nick were carrying trays of food and walking in the food court.

"If that means 'pretty much penniless for the next seven years', I'm right there with you." Nick replied.

They found their lady friends having a friendly match with just their regular decks. The girls immediately packed up their cards once they smelled the food.

"Finally! We've been waiting for half an hour, I hope you didn't forget the drinks!" Laura reminded them as they placed their food on the table.

"Nope. Medium non-fat double whipped **mocha-frappuccino** , with extra chocolate," the red-haired student replied, repeating the order perfectly as he passed the drink to her.

She took a sip and sighed in bliss before beginning to eat.

"Strawberry green boba tea with strawberry bobas," Barclay replied, passing the drink over to Sera.

"What did you two get to drink?" Laura asked as she wiped her face with a napkin while Sera slowly drank her tea.

" **Earl Grey**." the brown-haired Slifer replied, showing the drink in hand.

Nick placed his on the table with a smile. " **Horchata** , which I'm still surprised that they even have at the Academy."

Soon enough, the four of them were now enjoying their meals and having some small conversation with one another to pass the time.

"Alright, now after lunch, there's still some shoe stores that are calling our names, then we got the duel-disks to check out, not to mention the incredible card collection that they have here as well. Then later on..."

The headache he'd had in the morning came back, particularly over his eye. Nick didn't have a black eye anymore, but that punch yesterday had hurt. He stopped paying attention to the girls and ran through how he'd gotten to this point, since it felt like a blur.

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

 _ **Slifer-Dorm**_

 _In the room of the two rising stars of Slifer, all anyone would see inside was two completely opposite sides, one being neat and organized while the other had lines of trash and scattered clothes everywhere. Despite the morning sun seeping in, both of them seemed pretty deep in sleep, still feeling the effect of the attacks they got dealt with after the duel with Jessie went south._

 _Though that sleep would soon be disturbed by a loud pounding that came from the door, making them grumble and stir, eventually waking them up._

 _"It's Sunday..." Barclay groaned from under his blankets. He moved the blankets just enough away from his face that he could see the clock. "How the hell could anyone be awake at 6:30 on a Sunday?"_

 _Whoever it was knocked again, harder. Nick covered his ears with his pillow._

 _"Open up!"_ The redhead had a sudden sense of deja-vu. _. "Come on lazybones! We have plans today, especially since the two of you owe us for saving your bacon against Jessie!"_

That statement meant their wake-up call came from Laura. The two groaned, wishing they'd thought to pack earplugs.

 _"Nick... Go see what your_ _ **burd**_ _wants so I can go back to bed..."_ _Barclay muttered._

 _"She's not my girlfriend..."Nick threw his pillow at Barclay and completely missed._

 _"The way she clings to you, she may as well be," Barclay retorted, rolling over._

 _The knocking soon turned into banging, making them both groan in irritation once more._

 _Realizing that Laura wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon, Nick sighed and got up from bed. He pulled on a black muscle shirt and a pair of sweatpants before opening the door._

 _Laura and Sera, both in uniforms, were waiting for him. Sera looked as tired as he did._

 _"About time!" Laura said with a smile. Once she got a good look at Nick's clothes, however, she frowned and put her hands on her hips. "Is that what you're wearing? I hate to tell you this, but the slob look never got into the fashion world."_

 _Nick rubbed his eyes. "Not everyone's fashion sense wakes up at the same time they do, Laura. Especially not before eight AM._

 _"No excuses!" Laura replied with enthusiasm,_ loud enough that the sound echoed. _"Get dressed! You're taking us to the mall and giving us a shopping day!"_

 _The perky Ra yellow pulled the door shut and then continued talking to her friend. Even with her voice muffled, he was pretty certain that she was going over the day's long and probably hassle-filled itinerary that she had come up with._

 _He trudged away from the door, sighing in frustration as he started changing into his uniform._

 _"She's gonna_ _ **hae us skint afair th' week's it**_ _." Barclay muttered, finally getting off of his bed_ and searching through the piles on the floor for his clean uniform.

"You can say that again," Nick remarked with a nod, but soon paused when he didn't hear his roommate continue speaking. "No, seriously, say that again? I have no idea what you said."

 _Ten minutes later (thanks in part to Barclay's mess spilling over), the two of them left their room with their decks and duel disks ready._

 _"So where are we going?" he asked, wondering how he and Barclay were supposed to repay the girls._

 _"I told you already, the mall that's on this academy!" Laura answered. "They sell things there that they don't normally sell on campus and today's their annual_ _ **Sunday Saving Spree**_ _, if we don't hurry, all the good stuff will be gone."_

 _The two boys looked at one another with a raised eyebrow, not really understanding the excitement about a shopping trip, but decided not to say anything._

 _With that, the group began to walk down the hall and towards the stairs to exit the building._ However, the red-haired Slifer then realized that they were missing a person _._

 _"Wait!" Nick yelled out as the trio stopped to look back at him. "We totally forgot about Takashi!, I mean, he's also in your debt, right? It's only natural that he has to come with us as well." Also, if the two of them had to suffer through a shopping trip, then they needed their big buddy to carry the bags._

 _"Yeah, wouldn't wanna leave him out of the fun." Barclay muttered sarcastically, but stopped when Nick elbowed him in the side._

 _Laura seemed to be convinced, as she let them lead her and Sera to the dining hall without commenting. They caught Takashi as he was leaving and started explaining the plan, but he held out one hand and shook his head._

 _"I'm afraid I can't today. I gave my word that I'd duel someone in half an hour, so I won't be able to join you. Though I do hope that these two can pay my debt in full, have them buy you anything you want. I will be sure to pitch in." He pulled out his wallet and handed Nick and Barclay a handful of academy currency._

 _After that and another polite bow, the large Slifer began walking away from them and headed back upstairs to prepare for his duel._

 _"I don't think we've ever seen Takashi duel before, have we?" Barclay inquired with a curious tone._

 _Nick didn't answer, as he was currently hanging his head in despair._

 _"Then it's settled!" Laura declared with a cheerful tone, holding her hands together and tilting her head to the side a bit. "Takashi will go to his duel, you can't just ignore a challenge after all! Meanwhile, the rest of us will go to the mall and have ourselves some fun with shopping!"_

 _The rest of the group cheered with an emotionless tone as they began their long trek to the mall, unaware of how far it really was and how long it would actually take for them to get there._

* * *

 _ **One hour later**_

 _After exiting the dorm, they took to the dirt road that would lead them to the academy, but they instead took a different turn that would get them to the mall. Soon enough, they walked up a small hill, allowing them to take a glance at the building._

 _It was a massive rectangular building, nothing all that outstanding about its outward appearance. If there was anything to be remarked on in regards to the outside of the building was that, from where they currently stood, it was obviously the same shape as one of their cards._

 _"Oh, good! We can see the mall now!" Laura remarked with a happy tone in her voice. "Which means we're about half-way there!"_

 _"ONLY HALF-WAY?!" Barclay shouted with fury in his voice, irritated by the lack of sleep he received. "We've been walking for damn near an hour, and you mean to tell us that they built this place a two hour walk away from campus?! Why isn't there a shuttle or something?!"_

 _"Oh calm down," Laura sighed as she turned her head to look at him. "You're gonna scare everyone with how angry you are."_

 _Barclay just sighed with agitation, and Nick shook his head._

 _"You're really not a morning person, are you?"_

 _"Not even a little."_

 _Barclay and Laura continued arguing about the walk. Nick, rather than try to get a word in edgewise, looked at Sera, who just seemed bored._

 _"So, is she always like this?" The red-haired teen inquired, trying to get a conversation going to make time go by faster._

 _Sera only nodded in response and was going to remain silent, but the look on Nick's face told her that wouldn't be enough. She let out a sigh._

 _"Yeah, she's been like this as long as I've known her." Sera replied. "She's the type who won't stop until she's gotten what she wants, or she gets bored. Whichever comes first."_

 _Sera then looked back at the two who were arguing and cleared her throat, catching Laura's attention and ending the argument, for now._

 _"Laura, are you going to explain why we're not on the shuttle?"_

 _"Shuttle?!" Both boys remarked with anger in their voice, making Laura huff in annoyance before puffing her cheeks and looking over to Sera._

 _"Thanks for ruining my fun Sera!"_

 _"...What part of this two-hour trek was supposed to be fun?" Nick asked deadpan._

 _"The part where we all spend some time alone together and get to know each other better!" Laura replied, wrapping her arms around Nick's left arm. She laughed a bit as Nick went tomato red with the thought of what (he imagined) she'd intended to say._

 _Barclay and Sera both sighed at the same time, feeling a massive headache come on._

 _"You know, if this was just a plan to flirt with Nick, you could easily have done that without waking us up at 6:30," Barclay muttered, facepalming._

 _"But the mall opens at 8:00 and I wanted to make sure we'd be there when it opened!" Laura replied with a childish tone, sporting a pretend pout to go along with it. "And the shuttle wouldn't have gotten us there before 8:20!"_

 _Before any of them could open their mouths to reply, the thought sank in and gave them the realization that she was right in her own kind of way. Whether they wanted to admit it or not, it was better that they left as early as they had and got there when it opened than go later and deal with larger crowds._

 _The promised shuttle arrived after a good ten minutes. After paying a small fee to get on, they managed to find a row of seats and sat down, Nick with Laura and Barclay with Sera._

 _The shuttle ride turned out to be surprisingly relaxing. Nick leaned back and closed his eyes, hoping to get a small nap in._

 _It felt like he had just closed his eyes when he was shaken awake._

 _"Wakey wakey! We're here!" Laura announced with a smile. Nick sat up and rubbed some drool off his cheek. "You're pretty cute when you're sleeping, **bee tee dubs**."_

 _Nick felt his face turn red again and quickly turned to look out the window to see their destination coming up the horizon, showing the actual size of the building. It wasn't quite as tall as the Academy itself, though it looked almost as massive up close. Even though the mall was just beginning to shows signs of being open, there were still plenty of people who were milling about near the entrance._

 _"Geez, this is the mall?! Looks big enough to hold an entire city and still have room for the animals!" Nick remarked with surprise._

 _"Apparently, the mall has apartments for the maintenance staff that live on the island as well. I can only imagine how incredible the inside must be!" Laura practically shouted, earning a nervous laugh from the person next to her._

 _"You've seen one mall, you seen them all... I still don't get how you can find these places so amusing, **al'abalah**." Sera remarked in her native tongue._

 _"No need to be so mean, Sera!" Laura whined, turning to face her friend._

 _At that moment, the shuttle hit a pothole, causing the red-haired teen to jerk to the side, landing face first on something soft and yellow. He looked up and found himself staring at Laura, who smiled teasingly._

 _Nick, desperate to preserve his dignity, scrambled away from Laura and found a seat facing forward, where he pointedly looked at an ad or the scenery instead of her._

 _Once the shuttle came to a stop, Laura grabbed Nick's arm and forcefully dragged him off the shuttle, listing all the stores she wanted to go to while she was at it. She was talking too fast for Nick to understand all of it, but at least half of them sounded like card shops._

 _"Today's gonna be so much fun!" Laura said after they entered the mall. She was literally bouncing with joy and anticipation._

* * *

 _ **Present**_

 _Yeah right._ the red-haired teen thought to himself as he chuckled, catching the attention of Laura.

"Nick? Niiiick? NICK!"

"AH! Huh? What?" Nick wasn't sure if he had just dozed off or spaced out; he was focused on Laura's smile.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." Laura giggled, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

Sera and Barclay were still talking to each other; they hadn't even seen Nick's eyes glaze over.

All Nick could recall was the multiple shops they visited, which amounted to quite a collection of shopping bags that laid around their table. It made the red-haired Slifer look inside his wallet and find it nearly empty from all the spending that he did, leaving only a few dollars left.

"Oh I almost forgot! There are some cards I'd still like to try and find at the card shop!" Laura declared, jumping up from the table with her tray as she went to go throw it away. "Nick, grab my bags and follow me! We're still hunting!"

Nick did the same before grabbing as many of the bags as he could, feeling the weight of the bags pulling down his arms. He noticed that Laura had grabbed a few and smiled, though he also figured that those were probably the lightest and smallest bags they had gathered so far. She then stood waiting for Nick, with her hands on her hips and pretending to be impatient.

When he made it to her, the teen turned to see his other two friends still sitting down, finishing their meals.

"You two coming along?"

"No, I've actually got something that I need to pick up," Sera replied. "It should be at the mall's post office so I'll head there."

"Why'd you have it sent here rather than your dorm?" Barclay asked.

"Because when I ordered it, the only option was to Pick up in Store." she replied with an annoyed tone.

"Which store was that again?" Laura asked, but soon remembered what it was called. "No, I just remembered. It was that specialty food store at the other end of the mall, right?"

Sera just gave a nod as response and started gathering up some of her bags, leaving Barclay to clean the rest of the table before they began their walk.

"Let's meet back up in the main lobby in front of the entrance we used when we first arrived." Laura called out as she left, Nick trailing behind her with their bags

The pairs soon found themselves walking through the mall, passing through some of the other students as they attempted to make their way to the stores.

* * *

 _ **Upper Level**_

Sera and Barclay traversed the mall in a comfortable silence, passing the stores as they were looking for the one they needed to go too. Though the walk was without its annoyances. On the way there, they got a handful of shocked or disgusted looks from Ra or Obelisk students, respectively. There were a few who were simply saying "Hi" to Sera. She would acknowledge the hellos, and completely ignored anything else.

Barclay was too busy trying to ignore the throbbing lumps of pain that had once been his feet, as well as the decreasing circulation in his hands as the weight of the bags quietly and steadily dug into his hands and fingers.

 _How can anyone spend an entire day in here?_ he thought glumly.

It felt like it had taken hours to get to the store. In reality it was very likely only about five minutes since the two were walking at a brisk pace and the food court was located in the middle of the mall.

When they reached the store, the sore Slifer happily sat down on one of the benches with the bags while the Ra went to pick up her order. She was in and out in mere moments, carrying a large-ish small brown box. There was nothing too special looking about the package, but Barclay couldn't help but wonder a bit about what was in the box. He hadn't decided whether or not he'd ask what was in the box or not, but he gathered up the bags, stood back up with a pained grunt as his feet immediately started hurting again, and they started for the rendezvous point.

"So what did you get?" he asked in a desperate attempt to ignore his feet.

"Some ingredients I can't really get here to make some of my favorite dishes from home." Sera replied, looking at the package warmly.

"Anything specific?" Barclay asked.

"Nothing that you need to be concerned about if that's what you mean." she replied in a snooty tone.

The Slifer just sighed, figuring that he wasn't going to get anything more out of her than that. What he couldn't see was that she was now annoyed, because he didn't keep asking questions.

They then began walking towards the meeting point.

* * *

 _ **Lower Level**_

Meanwhile, Nick and Laura had both finished trading in some of their old cards at yet another store. At least trading in cards meant there wasn't another bag to carry. Laura had a bounce in her step again, grinning hugely. Nick went for the more subdued approach of examining one particular new addition.

"I've been looking forever for this one!" she remarked with joy before opening her deck case and sliding it in.

"Congratulations on getting it, then. So what was it?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" The albino woman teased, giving him a wink before turning forward to continue the walk. They also walked in comfortable silence for a while, but was then broken when Laura decided to ask the question that was on her mind ever since she first saw him. "Hey, so I wanted to ask, why did you get all defensive back when the prick called your deck stupid?"

Nick stopped in his tracks, which of course made her stop and turn around as well. He looked frustrated, and put the bags he was carrying down on a nearby bench before handing her his deck case.

Slightly confused, Laura opened it and looked through it one card at a time. To her surprise, none of his cards had a single scratch, crease, or tear, even the ones he probably used the most often.

"They're all practically mint-condition...How?

"My grandparents told me the best way to respect my cards was to keep them nice and keep them clean, especially ones you treasure the most."

Two in particular, Stardust Dragon and Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons, seemed to prove his point. They almost reflected the lights around them with how shiny they were. Laura could tell these were his treasures.

She smiled as she gave back his deck, realizing he was more interesting than she'd thought at first.

Before anything else could be said, the mall's PA system crackled to life, cutting off the music everyone had forgotten was there. There was some talking, the PA garbling the information for a few seconds, then it finally became clear after the static died down.

"Attention, duelists!" the PA voice said, for probably the second time. "The **Duel Academy Mall** is proud to announce the year's first **Duel Mall Championship**! The first twenty students who sign up will get a chance to compete against the current standing **Mall Champion** for the title and their choice of one card available within any of the mall's stores! Signups are in front of the Egyptian Gods fountain in the center of the mall. They will be first-come, first-served, so hurry there or you'll miss your opportunity to participate!"

The ensuing stampede of excited students towards the fountain drowned out anything else the PA might have said. A free card, like free food, was a guaranteed way to get students involved in anything.

"No way!" The Ra-yellow student shouted, causing some of the non-stampeding students to look at them in surprise. "We gotta go sign up for this! I, it could be my only chance to get one card I've had my eye on for ages!"

With that statement, she grabbed Nick's hand and bolted, making the Slifer student chuckle at her enthusiasm as he grabbed the bags once again and held them tightly in his other hand.

After a few seconds of dashing through the crowd of people, Laura and Nicked reached the fountain, getting in line to wait for their chance to sign up, which the pale-woman did but saw that there was no more spots on the roster.

"Aw, looks like it's just me this time," she said with a faux pout before smiling and giving him a playful wink. "Be sure to watch me closely now, okay, _honey_?"

Nick's face quickly turned the same shade as his hair, causing him to turn away and look somewhere else in embarrassment.

Laura was about to say something else when maniacal laughter pierced the air. Not particularly threatening maniacal laughter either; more like the kind someone auditioning for Mr. Burns might have made before being rejected.

"Oh no…" Laura said, her enthusiasm fading quickly. "It's—

"FEAR ME MORTALS!" a stocky, white-haired young man in an Obelisk Blue uniform, thick glasses, and a black cape shouted from what was clearly the Mall's stage, complete with smoke effects from behind him.

"IT IS I, DRACUL GRIGORESCU, AND TODAY I SHALL FEAST UPON YOUR SOULS!"

Most of the students, Laura included, responded with a collective resigned sigh.

* * *

 _ **Five chapters! We've made it through five chapters! This next guy, though... Doesn't seem like he'll be much of a threat, does he? Honestly, we don't know yet either (he hasn't Dueled yet, haha). Thanks for reading this chapter, we hope you'll stick with us. We've actually got a plot that we've worked out quite a bit (I know, I'm shocked too). So please look forward to that!**_

 _ **We also liked to give thanks to our newest Beta: Eneko95, who gave her valuable time to help us out and beta for us, for which we appreciate greately.**_

 **Translations and Explanations**

 **Brassic** \- Broke, penniless

 **Burd** \- Girlfriend/girls in general

"She's gonna **hae us skint afair th' week's it**." - "She's going to have us broke before the week's out."

 **Al'abalah** \- idiot/fool/stupid

 **Bubble tea** : Originally from Taiwan, this is tea with fruit or milk mixed in, along with tiny balls of either jelly or tapioca.

 **Horchata** : A drink found across Latin America (according to Wikipedia); the Mexican version is made using rice, cinnamon, and occasionally vanilla.


	6. Chapter 6: A Day at the Mall Part 2

_**Welcome to Chapter 6. The Duel at the Mall is about to happen! Who's excited? I think I am! But is a Duel all that's going to happen in this chapter? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe you should read the actual chapter to find out rather than looking up here, haha.**_

 _ **Re-edited: 12/8/2016**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 6**_

 _ **A Day at the Mall Part 2**_

 _ **Duel Academy Mall**_

"Who dares challenge me in my domain?" the strange student asked dramatically, only to accidentally inhale the smoke still coming from behind him. A few people laughed; most just sighed again.

Nick looked at the guy with a raised eyebrow before looking back to Laura. "Who is this guy?"

"A headache for everyone who goes shopping here, honestly… He's the reigning **Duel Academy Mall Champion** _**Drago**_ **culi Grigorescu** , and as you saw, a total prima donnaalso known for being a fruitcake," Laura remarked while rubbing her temples.

"It's Dracul!" the teen shouted, glaring at Laura.

At that point, an older teacher with a distinctive lean-important-NPC look headed for the stage with a microphone in hand. Nick didn't know this particular teacher, so he paid special attention to the man's long black overcoat, tattered white dress shirt, and brown wraparound sunglasses.

" **Bienvenidos** ," the man said once he got on stage, looking out over the crowd of students. "I am Professor **Jorge Romero** , the **Dueling Tactician** Teacher of Duel Academy and head of **Obelisk Blue**. I'd like to welcome you all to the championship match. As many of you already know, every semester we select one student to be Mall Champion. This time the position went to Señor Eu— er… Dracul due to his incredible stats last year."

Everyone murmured at that remark, shocked that someone like him could've been chosen to represent the best of the best in such a way.

Professor Romero pulled a sheet of paper out of a pocket. "Before we get started, I have a small announcement from the headmistress. "This year, Duel Academy students will begin matches with 8000 Life Points each, rather than the traditional 4000."

The shocked voices soon turned excited after hearing that, making everyone smile in joy as they knew that this meant longer Duels and also better chances to win.

"Now, will the lucky 20 contestants put your Duel Visors on and walk toward the stage."

"Good luck, Laura," said Nick as the group began to leave.

She smiled and gave him an OK symbol.

"We'll decide who fights Señor Dracul first by lottery," the professor continued. "I know we're calling it a tournament, but we don't have time for all of you to fight each other, **o eso los profesores dicen**. Anyway, each of you come forward and draw a piece of paper from this box. You'll get a number on it from one to twenty, and matches will go in that order. ¿ **Comprendes**?"

There was a collective nod from the assembled students, who then approached the box and each drew a slip of paper.

"Of course, drawing the **número** you want is like drawing the card you want," Jorge said as the last of the students drew a number. "Let's see whose **suerte** is the best."

With that, the first few students went towards the arena in anticipation of their matches, meanwhile the remaining students took a seat in the spectating booths, while a few others like Laura simply sat down at the benches and waited for their turn.

"Aw…" Laura sighed when she saw her number in her hand after sitting down. "I got number ten."

"What number were you hoping for? One?" Nick asked, taking his seat next to her with the bags on the floor.

"I was hoping for 20," Laura said, then before Nick could ask why, "To save the best for last, of course."

He chuckled at her remark before turning towards the stage to watch the first duelist began their duel with the Mall Champ.

Most of the contestants lost one after the other in varying amounts of time; he didn't know any of them, and he didn't think Laura did either. She passed the time by looking at some of the new cards she bought in hopes of rearranging her deck. Nick chuckled again, quietly; she looked almost like him when she concentrated.

Barclay and Sera arrived before he thought of something to say, and he stood up to greet them.

"Hey you two, what took you so long?" he asked with a smile.

"When the announcement went out, we got run over," Sera replied as she found a seat and began rubbing at some freshly forming bruises.

"Ended up spending the last few minutes picking up all the stuff that she bought today," Barclay continued. Nick saw him set the bags down and begin looking through them, probably double checking the inventory.

"So that weirdo Eugene is the Mall Champ?" Sera asked while dusting off her uniform.

"Who? No, his name's Dracul something or other," Nick replied, pointing at the victorious student. He was pretty sure this was the Champion's eighth straight win.

Most of the contestants lost one after the other in varying amounts of time; he didn't know any of them, and he didn't think Laura did either.

"Dracul's a stage name he insists on." She looked as annoyed as Laura and everyone else had when he first showed up. "His real name's **Eugene Nicolescu**."

"That's… pretty mundane," Barclay said, having finished taking inventory.

"Kinda," Sera agreed. "Laura enjoys messing with him, though. Botching his stage name, things like that."

"If he didn't make it so easy to mess with him, I wouldn't do it," Laura protested.

"So why the vampire routine, then?" Nick wondered.

"Mostly it's because of his incredible addiction to scary movies. He's even president of the Academy's horror movie fan club." Sera sighed with frustration, looking back at the stage.

Barclay looked that way as well. "Well. Weird or not, it's obvious he's talented enough to be in the Obelisk dorm.

"Yeah… how has he been winning all of these duels?" Nick asked with surprise.

"You haven't been watching the stage, have you?" Sera asked, turning her gaze on Nick. The look on her face made him feel very foolish and small. "Zombie decks are typically focused on swarming the field. Eugene, however, uses some very specific Zombie Monsters." "What's so special abou-?"

Before he could finish, a powerful gust of wind caught his attention as he looked back at the stage.

"Abandon all hope!" Dracul shouted. "As I Special Summon my ultimate monster! **Vampire Genesis** (8/3000/2100) in attack mode!"

A massive purple monster with three large horns and leathery wings on its back appeared on the stage. It had thick, vicious-looking teeth, sharp claws on its hands, and almost comically oversized muscles.

"Holy cow, he uses a **Vampire Deck**!" Nick gasped as the monster wiped out its hapless opponent. "Those are incredibly difficult to pull off!"

Sera nodded. "Indeed, that's why he hasn't lost against anyone so far. Even some of the Blues have trouble with him."

"Alright, **Número** Ten, proceed to the stage!" said Professor Romero once the unlucky duelist had left. Laura jumped up from her seat and went to the bag holding her duel disk. In keeping with her Naturia theme, the disk had a green and brown color scheme rather than the standard Ra Yellow one.

"Time to go Van Helsing on this freak!" Laura remarked before running off.

 _Hope she doesn't get too cocky,_ he thought to himself. _…Who's Van Helsing, anyway?_

She slowed down enough to walk onto the stage without tripping on one of the steps or over her own feet.

"Oh? Is it time for the main course already?" Dracul asked, an almost wicked smile on his face. "I guess I really blew through those appetizers. Though, like you, I'm a little sad I don't get to save the best part for dessert."

"Gross…" Laura shuddered. Dracul simply laughed, failing once again to sound maniacal or threatening.

She didn't look at him as they shuffled and cut each other's decks. She did look him in the eye during the handshake, though, just to be polite.

Their disks activated at roughly the same time. Laura's digi-construct was, of course, light green and curled around her disk like a climbing vine. She wasn't surprised to see that her opponent's disk was bone-white in color, and that its digi-construct looked like a coffin.

The stage soon projected a similar black dome around itself, allowing students who were wearing their visors to see the solid vision holograms that would appear.

"Let's duel!"

* * *

 **Laura** \- 8000 LP

 **Dracul** \- 8000 LP

"Ladies first, Draco, I draw!"

"It's Dracul!" her opponent protested indignantly.

The Ra yellow student looked at her hand, adding the new card to her hand and decided how she would open the duel.

"I'll start my turn by activating the spell, **Pot of Duality**!"

A giant amphora with a peaceful white face on one side and a demonic-looking green face on the other manifested in front of her. Light shone on her from the peaceful side.

"Thanks to this, I have to show you the top three cards of my deck," Laura remarked, doing so.

"Unfortunately, that means I won't be able to special summon this turn, but it does let me add my **Naturia Pumpkin** (4/1400/800) to my hand."

She returned the other two to her deck, which automatically shuffled itself.

"Now I summon my newest monster to the field in attack mode!"

A very relaxed-looking green, spherical monster appeared in a cartoonish puff of smoke. It wasn't bothered by the top of its head coming off at all, and casually stuck the small flower it was holding in the gap.

"I'll put another card face down and end my turn," she told him.

"My turn, then," Dracul said as he drew and grabbed two cards from his hand. "First, I'll set these cards facedown on the field." The cards materialized in front of him on the field.

"Then, I'll summon my **Zombie Master** (4/1800/0) in attack mode!"

The ground in front of him began to break apart; a purple aura seeped out of the hole, followed by a pale, blue-haired figure that crawled its way onto the field. It was surprisingly well-dressed for a zombie; off-white cravat and matching shirt, black cape, and brown slacks. Its blank white eyes and lack of shoes ruined the effect, though.

"Now, Zombie Master! Attack her Pumpkin with Necro Blast!" Dracul shouted.

A purplish-pink aura flared up around the monster's hands as it lifted them above its head.

"Oh no you don't! I activate **Compulsory Evacuation Device**!" Laura countered. A large robotic claw appeared below the zombie, grabbed it by the legs, and loaded it into a monster-sized cannon.

Said cannon immediately shot Zombie Master into the sky, causing its card to shoot back to Dracul's hand.

"Tch… looks like I'll be ending my turn here, for now." Dracul sighed.

Laura drew and smiled at the cards in her hand.

"I place one card face down and activate the spell **Barkion's Bark**!" she declared. "Because I control a Naturia monster on my side of the field, any trap cards you may have on your side won't work this turn."

A large, scale-shaped piece of bark fell from the sky and landed on top of Dracul's face down cards. The bark had moss growing on it and had three protrusions on the top and four curved spikes on either side of it.

Dracul did not react to this, which meant either he didn't have any trap cards on the field. Regardless, Laura was not about to pass up the opportunity to attack him directly.

"Now then, Pumpkin, show that fanged wannabe your power! Attack him with **Seed Buster**!"

The plant monster glared at its target, reared back a bit, and shot a spray of pumpkin seeds at Dracul that hit like small bullets. Dracul flinched and gave a small shout of pain

 **Laura** \- 8000 LP

 **Dracul** \- (8000 - 6600 LP)

* * *

"I'll end my turn with a face down. Hope you got a plan, Draco," Laura teased and stuck her tongue out at her opponent.

"It's Dracul!" the Obelisk blue protested again as he drew a card.

I'll set another card face down and then re-summon Zombie Master to the field in attack mode!"

The zombie appeared once again none the worse for wear.

"Now! Say goodbye to your gourd! Zombie Master, Attack with **Death Pull**!"

The monster raised both hands in the air, the aura around them flaring up again. However, rather than launching the aura at Naturia Pumpkin, this time the aura caused skeletal arms to burst from the ground and drag the pumpkin down with them.

"Now that's mean!" Laura pouted with a sad look on her face as she sent the card to the graveyard. "...Poor Pumpkin."

 **Laura** \- (8000 - 7600 LP)

 **Dracul** \- 6600 LP

* * *

"And now my Zombie shall wait for his next meal." Dracul laughed as he ended his turn.

"Knock it off, _Drugo_!" she huffed, drawing her next card.

"It's Dra-oh, just forget it…" Dracul sighed in defeat.

 _Dang it, this isn't looking good… Oh well, guess I just have to endure,_ Laura thought to herself as she saw her hand. There were a lot of useful cards, but none that would specifically help her at that moment.

"I'll pass for now, but don't think this is over!" she declared with an annoyed tone.

Meanwhile, her friends looked on with surprise, especially Nick, who noticed she looked a bit concerned.

"Does anybody else think Laura looks kinda nervous? Naturia's a really strong deck, and she has a thousand LP on Dracul. What's going on?"

Dracul certainly did, as he started laughing at the start of his next turn. The smoke had gone away by this point, so he sounded a little more menacing than he would have.

"Scared of the zombie, are you?" he taunted. "Then, say hello to my next one! **Goblin Zombie** (4/1100/1050) in attack mode!"

Similar to Zombie Master, a second hole broke open on the ground as purple energy began to seep out with a dark figure. Unlike Zombie Master, the new monster was solid black and had what looked like bone armor covering its upper body. Its eyes were solid red, and it carried a sword in one hand.

"Snack time, boys!"

"Eeek!" the Ra Yellow shrieked, covering her head with her duel disk and bracing for impact.

Nick's eyes widened. "Oh, that's what. ...Great."

Zombie Master launched a Necro Blast, while Goblin Zombie charged forward just behind the aura. The first attack hit, filling its target with a feeling of cold dread. The second attack then came quickly after in the form of a slashing attack from the monster's sword.

 **Laura** \- (7600 - 4700 LP)

 **Dracul** \- 6600 LP

* * *

"And since Goblin Zombie inflicted damage to you, its effect kicks in and the top card of your deck goes right to your Graveyard!" Dracul laughed.

An aura surrounded his opponent as it caused the top card to glow black, making Laura growl at him as she drew it and placed it in her graveyard.

"Alright, I draw!" Laura said, defiance in her voice. She clearly had not given up yet.

Finally, but without something to tribute it, this won't work… she thought as she looked at her hand.

"I pass again. Ugh."

"This has really taken a turn for the worse," Sera said in a calm and matter-of-fact tone.

"That's a serious understatement…" Nick retorted with a shocked tone in his voice.

"The Duel's not lost yet," Barclay reminded them, making the two turn towards him. "She could still turn things around with the right card. And before you ask, Nick; yes, that easily. The same thing happened during our first duel remember?"

Nick opened his mouth to protest, then shrugged and turned back to the duel.

"Hm… while it won't do much good for now," Dracul said, looking at the card he'd just drawn, "I'll activate the spell Pyramid of Wonders."

A massive inverted pyramid made of solid light materialized above the stage. The crowd gasped in awe, but it didn't have a clear function or a sinister feeling, so they were a little confused about it.

"Maybe she won't be able to turn this around…" Sera admitted with a small hint of regret in her voice.

"What? Why not?" Nick remarked with surprise.

"Pyramid of Wonders boosts the attack points of all Zombie-Type monsters by 200 for every monster that is on the opponent's side of the field," Sera answered. "So unless she can quickly get out a monster that has 2000 ATK or more, she won't be able to do too much."

"But she could do something like that, right?" Nick inquired with a tone of hope now in his voice.

"Depends on what cards she has," said Sera.

"I shall place my next minion face down in defense mode, now it is time for my other two to have a snack!" Dracul declared. Laura braced herself again, but the combined direct attacks knocked her flat on her back.

 **Laura** \- (4700 - 1800 LP)

 **Dracul** \- 6600 LP

* * *

"Oooww! Stupid Vampire!" she remarked in a huff, getting up and dusting herself up as she tried to regain her composure.

"And Goblin Zombie's effect activates once again!" Dracul reminded Laura, who then discarded the top card of her deck.

 _Dang it, this isn't looking good… Come on, deck, pretty please help…_ Laura thought as she drew her next card. Unless she got lucky, all she could do now was put up a good fight.

"I activate the spell Foolish Burial. I gotta say, sending a monster straight from my deck to my Graveyard seems more your style than mine, _Drake_."

She picked a random monster and sent it to its demise with a silent apology. The smug look she saw on her opponent's face drove home the point she'd started to realize—the duel was ending.

"And that's my turn," she said, taking a deep breath so she wouldn't start crying.

 _I guess it's over. …Dang it!_

Dracul drew a card and added it to his hand without looking at it.

"Time for the sacrifice! Zombie Master! he said in the most over-the-top way he could manage, with a pose to match. "Finish her off with **Undead Barrage**!"

The aura around the monster's hands flared up and it began throwing orbs of the aura at its target. Each orb took on the shape of a skull and exploded upon contact with Laura. Dracul was laughing as maniacally as he could manage, though whatever effect he may have conjured up was quickly lost as he broke out into a coughing fit.

 **Laura** \- (1800 - 0 LP)

 **Dracul** \- 6600 LP

* * *

"Contestant Laura has been eliminated!" Professor Jorge declared. The crowd whispered among itself as she stood up, looking stiffer than usual.

"I hope you put up a better fight next time. Unless you've finally accepted me as your lord and master?" Dracul asked in a serious tone.

Laura walked off the stage without a word to him, looking down so her hair covered her face.

"H-hey! Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you!" Dracul protested. "Get back up here and—!"

"Enough, **chico** ," Professor Romero interrupted sternly.

Dracul immediately shut his mouth and stiffened in fear.

When she reached her friends, Nick was the first to approach her. He put his hand on her shoulder in an effort to comfort her.

"Hey, stuff happens, all right? Don't beat yourself up over it, you did everything you could..." he told her gently.

The response he got was some quiet sniffling. Sera gently pulled him away and put an arm around Laura's shoulders, leading her toward the exit.

As the boys watched, the two girls started talking to each other. It didn't take long before Laura seemed to start cheering up, and from what little Nick and Barclay could hear, she was ranting about something (probably the duel) to Sera.

"Huh, she got over that quickly," Nick remarked with a relieved tone in his voice.

" **Be** cannie wi' 'er," Barclay remarked. "She goes from flap to alrecht that quickly, you can bet somethin's amiss."

Nick raised an eyebrow.

"Just be careful. If she goes from upset to alright that quickly, something's probably amiss."

The red-haired teen chuckled before hearing Laura shout at them.

"Come on, slowpokes! Let's go!"

The two Slifers turned to see their friends waiting, making them quickly gather up the bags and follow before they were left behind.

The two paused to catch their breath at the exit when they heard someone else's voice. It sounded muffled and far-off, but also like the person was shouting at them.

 _"Guardians!"_

They looked around in confusion, but no one else around them appeared to have heard the voice. No one in the crowd around them appeared to be the source of the voice either, leaving them without any clue as to what was going on.

" _Guardians_!" the voice sounded a little closer and clearer, making the two look around the area, trying to pinpoint the origin of the voice, which they could tell was feminine.

"You hear that?" Nick inquired, the confusion clear in his voice as he tried to find the source.

"Maybe?" Barclay replied, just as confused as Nick.

The students waited a few moments, wondering if the voice would call out again, but nothing came.

"We really gotta get some sleep after this," Nick remarked as he shook his head and began walking.

After leaving the mall and taking the shuttle back to the Ra yellow dorm, the duo bid farewell to Laura and Sera as they took their bags and went to their rooms. With the sun setting, the Slifer-students slowly but surely made their way back to their dorms, entering the building.

The roommates got to their door and simply opened it after they unlocked it, trudging their feet inside as exhaustion washed over them.

"Ugh, finally..." Nick groaned, collapsing face-first onto his bed.

" **Aam jist glad tae be aff mah achin' feit** ," Barclay sighed as he slumped into the seat at his desk and propped his feet up.

The two simply stayed in their spots in comfortable silence as sleep would begin to wash over them, though before either of them could get comfy, something stirred them.

Like in the mall, a voice soon called out to them, though unlike the one from before which was far away and muffled, this one sounded bored and clear, like it could hardly be bothered to really even speak up.

" _Guardians_ …" It called out to them, making Nick open his eyes and shoot up in shock while Barclay lost balance and fell flat on his back. \

The best either of them could manage was a stunned "Uh..."

" _Guardians_ …" the voice repeated once again. Like the first one, it sounded feminine, but instead had a more bored and unamused tone to it.

Before either of the guys could say anything, the same voice from the mall made a frustrated noise, and the two voices started arguing

" _If you're not going to do it properly then let me do it!_ "

" _You got me up to do this, the least you can do is let me do it my way!_ "

" _Give me that!_ "

" _No!_ "

The sound of a brief scuffle and some arguing was then followed by the sound of feedback, like a microphone that got a little too close to the speakers. Neither Nick or Barclay had any idea how any of this was possible or if it was even real, all they knew was it small brawl ended with one of the voices clearing their throats, while the other shouted in the background.

"…You're hearing this too, right?" Nick asked, sitting up and looking over to his roommate, hoping that he'd say no and tell him that he was crazy.

"I hear nothing…" Barclay replied as he got up and sat back down in his chair, though his tone indicated he was trying to convince himself as much as Nick. "We've both passed out from a very lang day an' we're dreamin'…"

" _Oh I wouldn't think that._ " Both voices now remarked at the same time as a light soon erupted in their room, blinding them momentarily.

When the light faded, a brightly glowing circular portal had appeared in their room. Inside the portal were two somewhat pale young women with disheveled hair and distinct hand-shaped marks on their cheeks, the result of the fight Barclay and Nick had overheard.

The one on the left had blue eyes and voluminous green curls that went at least to her knees. She wore a green turtleneck with some black accents and either a capelet or a very fancy lab coat. Given the goggles, work gloves, and mysterious beakers attached to it, Nick assumed it was a lab coat. He wasn't sure how the two belts crossing each other fit comfortably over her oversized green-and-white-striped shorts, though. By contrast, her thigh-high blue socks and calf-high boots seemed almost normal.

The one on the right looked similar; blue eyes, pale skin, goggles. She even used her goggles to hold back her (blue) hair the way the other one did. Her outfit was much simpler than her companion's, just a red tank top with purple shorts and a belt or two. She didn't even have shoes.

All the Slifers knew when they saw these two was that they weren't going to get to sleep anytime soon.

* * *

 _ **Welp, looks like the boys have gotten themselves into yet another mess of things, only now, it'll get much worse. Thanks so much for keeping up with us this long, it means a lot to both me and Lee that you guys read this.**_

 _ **A heads up, we will finally be getting to the main plot of this story as well as exploring the new enemies that we will be introducing. Let us know what you think in the reviews and we hope you enjoy this with us as we continue further.**_

 _ **Also, lots of thanks to our Beta,**_ ** _Eneko95,_** _ **for taking the time to read through our madness and editing it into something comprehensible for those of you reading this story!**_

 **Translations** :

\- " **Bienvenidos** ": "Welcome."

\- " **o eso los profesores dicen** ": "or so the teachers say"

\- "¿ **Comprendes**?": "Understand?"

\- " **número** ": "number"

\- " **suerte** ": "luck"

\- " **chico** ": "boy"

\- " **First she's flap, noo she's alrecht… be cannie wi' 'er**.": "First she's upset, now she's alright... be careful with her."

\- " **flap** ": "to become overly upset or worked up about something, beyond what others see as necessary"

\- " **Aam jist glad tae be aff mah achin' feit'** ": "I'm just glad to be off my aching feet."


	7. Chapter 7: The Chronicle of Brothers

_**So last time, two girls showed up in Nick and Barclay's room and I promised that this chapter was where the main storyline gets started. I'm sure many of you have been waiting for this moment. We promise that any filler arcs will have some connection to the main plot.**_

 _ **We'd also like to give thanks to our Beta, Eneko95 and her continued support as our beta. We truly appreciate all the hard work she's done for us.**_

 _ **Re-edited 12/15/16**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 7**_

 _ **The Chronicle of Brothers**_

 _ **Slifer Red Dorm**_

Nick and Barclay had thought that the only thing they would have to deal with that day was getting dragged around the Duel Academy Mall, and of course the tournament. In retrospect, that had gone out the window the first time they'd heard the mysterious voice asking for _Guardians_.

That didn't make processing the sight of two oddly-dressed young women in front of a portal any easier.

"They said we're not dreaming, Bar…" Nick remarked slowly, his eyes widening.

"That proves nothing," Barclay replied with defiance, not wanting to accept that what was going on really was happening.

"See? I told you they weren't gonna buy this," the blue-haired girl told her associate next to her. "How did I let you talk me into doing this?"

"A, you're the one who spaced out and blew up Mistress' lab and B, we're the only ones close to them!" The green-haired one glared at her partner.

"…Bar…" Nick began to say, but stopped when he saw the girls look at him, making him stop speaking as the two walked up to him first.

"Hm…red hair, scar over one eye…" the green haired one muttered. "Rather simple at heart, but has quite a kind aura around him as well…"

"Check, check, and check." The blue haired one yawned. They then moved onto Barclay.

"So… Greenie, why are really good Alchemic Magician and Slacker Magician cosplayers breaking into our room?" Barclay asked the two as they began inspecting him. The blue- haired one giggled slightly at Barclay's nickname.

"Looks lazy, sounds rude," Greenie continued, ignoring Barclay's question as she kept looking him over. "Defiant look in the eye."

"Aside from his annoying attitude, he's definitely the right one. Mistress isn't ever wrong," the blue hair one answered with another yawn as she looked back to Nick.

"All in all, these are definitely the two." Greenie sighed. "But they… they're… er…" She waved a hand around vaguely.

"Kinda lame?" Blue suggested.

"Hey!" Nick and Barclay protested.

"I was going to say they don't have the right aura," Greenie retorted with a hushed tone. "They've clearly forgotten their own history, which doesn't bode well for us… At least the rude one knows who we are; that'll make things a little easier."

"No kidding; I hate having to go through that whole boring introduction. By the way, what are 'cosplayers'?" the blue-haired one added.

"So… you're saying that… that you two are Alchemic Magician and Slacker Magician?" Nick stammered, trying to make sense of everything. "But… those are Duel Monsters cards…"

"Ugh… Great, now we have this to deal with," Slacker Magician remarked, annoyed.

Alchemic Magician elbowed her in the ribs and took a step forward.

"What my rude companion is trying to say is… We're not exactly ordinary beings. You could say we're the original source of the cards people made of us.

"Ever heard of Duel Spirits?" asked Slacker Magician. "You're looking at two of them right now. Nice to meet you, kids." Nick did a double take. " **Qué?** "

"Well, now I _know_ we're dreamin'," Barclay muttered.

"Think so?" Slacker Magician questioned before delivering a resounding slap to Barclay.

"OY!" Barclay shouted, holding his stinging face. "That hurt, damn it!"

"And therefore?" Slacker Magician prompted.

" **No estamos dormidos** …" Nick realized.

"Apparently not…" Barclay lowered his hand. "But you two being Duel Spirits still doesn't explain why you're here and why you're talking to the two of us."

"Right… I was just getting to that," Alchemic Magician commented, snapping her fingers to draw focus back to her. "See, here's the thing: A group of humans calling themselves **The Order** has come together for a very dangerous task. If they can somehow go through with it, it means disaster for not only our home, but yours as well…"

"Wait… When you say **ours** , you mean…?"

"The **Duel Spirit World** , of course!" Alchemic retorted, glaring at the Slifer. "The Duel Spirit World and your world are connected! If one goes, they both go, and it means bad news for other dimensions as well…"

"Okay, so which world is in danger, ours, yours, or all of them?" Barclay continued.

Slacker covered her mouth, trying not to laugh at her partner's increasingly annoyed face.

"Look, there are several dimensions of existence, alright?" Alchemic's tone indicated that she was in no mood to put up with whatever game Barclay was playing. "The point I'm trying to make is: The two of you are the ones who can put an end to their evil plans and keep them from killing everyone!"

That single remark made the entire room tense as the two students looked on with wide eyes, realizing the seriousness behind her words, making them stay silent for what seemed like hours.

"…Why us?" Nick asked tentatively.

The magicians exchanged meaningful looks.

"I'm glad you asked that," Alchemic Magician replied as she turned around towards the portal that they came in from. "Come with us and we'll show you the truth behind your destiny..."

The green-haired spirit began walking as she eventually entered through the portal, leaving the two Slifer-students shocked by how she just entered without hesitation.

"One more thing, and pay attention when I say this," Slacker Magician remarked as the two now turned their attention towards her, seeing that she was holding their Deck cases. "Take these with you, you'll need them."

Right after handing them their Decks, she then entered through the portal, leaving both Nick and Barclay standing there with their cases in hand and shock on their faces.

"Are we really gonna do this?" Nick asked as he wrapped the case around his waist and locked it in.

"If it gets all o' this over with so I can go back to bed, yes." Barclay did the same and turned to Nick. "Ready?"

Both of them nodded to one another, looked forward, and walked right through the portal. It closed behind them with a faint pop.

* * *

 _ **Duel Monsters Spirit World**_

It took a few moments for their eyes to adjust to their new settings. Once they did, the two Slifers saw that they were in a medium-sized log cabin surrounded by trees. The cabin was well constructed, but it was extremely cluttered with countless vials and beakers filled with mysterious liquids in just about every color imaginable. There were also burners and stacks upon stacks of papers and books.

"Someone should call NIOSH," Barclay muttered, noticing that some of the beakers had smoke coming out of them.

"If they're anything like OSHA, they'd have a heart attack as soon as they got here." Nick picked up a random vial closer to him, ignoring Barclay's shocked expression. It had neon-green liquid in it that smelled like a hospital. "What is this, magic bleach?"

"Stop dawdling in here," Slacker demanded, though something about her felt more... determined. "And put. That. Down."

Nick took one look at Slacker Magician's face and immediately put the vial back where he'd found it.

"Good, now come on, time for you two to learn some history." They followed her out of the cabin with no resistance. They did, however, pause on the cabin's front porch to appreciate the tranquil scenery and crisp, clean air. Nick knew he was in another dimension, but something felt familiar about the forest all the same. Like coming back to somewhere he'd lived a long time ago.

Before he knew it, the red-haired teen started walking with Slacker, but soon passed her as she and Barclay were behind him, trying to keep up. Soon enough, the trio made their way to a structure that looked like a temple of sorts.

"Jeez, you could at least wait for us, or even tell us what the rush is…" Barclay soon stopped when he saw the structure in front of him, made completely of stone with two massive statues: One holding a jagged shield with a double edge sword icon on one side, and the other holding a large round shield with a design of three swirls meeting in a central circle.

"This… this feels familiar," Nick muttered softly, his voice reverent. He turned to face the blue-haired girl. "Why?"

"You stand before the barrow of your ancestors," she replied, also looking at the monument respectfully. "They were the first to stop the plan that The Order is trying to recreate."

Barclay slowly drew closer to one of the statues. "Hmm. Fifth… sixth century, give or take. Definitely early medieval period. But there's no moss or weathering anywhere like I would expect."

"Why didn't you tell me you were secretly Sherlock Holmes?" Nick asked as he took a closer look at the other statue. All he saw was something old and imposing.

"Very funny," Barclay replied deadpan. "My parents showed me this type of statue a lot when we went back to the UK. But why are medieval statues in the middle of a Duel Monsters Spirit World forest?"

"I told you," Slacker Magician replied. "They're grave markers for the heroes who stopped The Order's plan the first time. When they died, we buried them here."

"How?" Nick was starting to feel extremely curious.

Suddenly, the ground shook, and the monument split down the middle to reveal a cave entrance.

Alchemic Magician walked out of it holding a lit torch. "Follow me," she told the trio.

Not having much other choice, the small group entered as the entrance behind them closed up, leaving them with only the light of the torch to guide their way through the darkness.

"Long ago, when this world was in an era of peace, a prophecy came down across the lands speaking of a darkness that would swallow every world in existence beginning with ours," the green-haired spirit began. She touched a wall, and bright light emerged from it. Illusory fields materialized around the group, only to rapidly decay.

"This power corrupted all that touched it, including the wills of some Duel Spirits. It turned them against each other, and eventually grew strong enough to take direct control of anyone who touched it." As she said this, the illusion changed to a battlefield. Armies of monsters and Duel Spirits roared and fought each other ferociously.

"The fights raged on and on and threatened to destroy our world, but when someone opened the Gate to the Balance, two brave warriors and their allies from another world—your world—arrived here," said Slacker.

The image changed to a door of light opening up, through which a group of scruffy-looking mercenaries and another group of more professional soldiers entered. Unsurprisingly, the armies' leaders looked like older versions of Nick and Barclay respectively.

"One fought with the goal of unifying the world, believing that true peace and balance required people from all walks of life to work together," said Alchemic Magician.

"The other believed those with a strong lineage had the responsibility to bring peace to those around them, and fought with that sense of duty as his guide.

"The two arrived in our world, saw the chaos that had overtaken us, and set to work bringing peace to the lands," Slacker Magician added. More battle scenes followed. After each one, the heroes' armies grew a little bigger, until finally they confronted a strange, shadowy creature that radiated evil and destruction.

"The creature I'm showing you, an avatar of darkness called the Possessed One, mocked the armies facing him, claiming that all of nature would inevitably return to chaos and corruption," Alchemic continued. "But rather than fight with their full armies, the two warriors approached it on their own."

The Possessed One roared and attempted to attack the warriors, but two glowing symbols on the warriors' right and left hands (respectively) stopped it. The symbols glowed brighter and flooded the area with light; the shadow disappeared with a final defiant roar.

"And as you see, with the power they'd gained from their battles, the two heroes sealed the Possessed One away in the void, freed the world from its prison of darkness, and purified those who had been corrupted." As soon as Alchemic finished the story, the illusion vanished. The group was now in a larger room with tombstones directly in front of them.

With one light from the torch, the entire room illuminated, revealing not just the tombstones, but stone panels depicting what looked like Duel Monsters, each one drawn in a familiar yet unknown shape.

"They were trapped here after the war, made their homes here until their children's children returned to your world…" Slacker added as both Nick and Barclay walked up to the separate tombs.

Two of the panels lit up and from them emerged two new figures.

In front of Nick stood a olive-skinned man clad in black, flowing armor marked with orange lines. A bird's tail and wings adorn his back, and his hands are covered by golden, clawed gauntlets, but his most striking feature is his helmet: it is made in the likeness of an open-beaked crow, silver and black, where the visor would be there is naught but a staring, red eye.

Before Barclay was a young blue-eyed woman in a classic white princess dress and twin braids, a direct and striking contrast to the warrior in front of Nick. Her gold tiara, earrings, and necklace further enhanced the "princess" look, as did the matching trim on her dress. However, Barclay noticed that even with all of that and a maroon shawl to boot, she had a sort of imposing aura as well; probably a side effect of being face-to-face with royalty.

"Now, with the fate of all reality at stake, new guardians must be chosen to take the mantle of protectors," said Alchemic.

"Whether you like it or not, this is your fate and role, and if you're going to fight them soon, then you need the power hidden within you," Slacker added.

"That's why we're here. I am known as **Gwenhwyfar, Queen of Noble Arms** ," said the younger spirit, curtsying. "It's an honor to meet you."

Barclay bowed to her. "Likewise."

"And this is your spirit, Nick, **Blackwing Armor Master**. He doesn't talk much, but he gets things done," the green-haired female commented.

The redhead stared in awe as the monster reached towards him. Guessing its intention, Nick reached back up and shook its oversized hand.

"These two will be your guides so we won't have to deal with your sorry butts anymore. They're also your first step to unlocking the power within," Slacker explained.

"What exactly is this power you two keep mentioning?" asked Nick, turning towards them.

Barclay nodded to Gwenhwyfar and turned to the magicians as well.

"It'd be easier to show you, Slacker told you two to bring your Decks, correct?" Alchemic asked. Nick and Barclay opened their Deck cases and showed their cards to Alchemic and Slacker Magician.

"Good, you two can follow instructions," said Slacker, dodging Alchemic's elbow. "Give them to your Duel Spirits; they'll awaken the power you need."

The students looked at each other briefly, then offered their decks to their respective spirit partner.

Master and Gwenhwyfar placed their right hands on top of the decks and looked Nick and Barclay directly in the eyes.

"Once this is done, there is no going back. You two will be in constant danger, and so will those close to you. Do you still accept this burden?" Slacker and Alchemic asked.

Nick thought about everything in his life, in particular about the only two people in the world who loved him left and what they might do in this situation. He looked over to Barclay, wondering what was going through his mind.

"Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing," Barclay finally said as he looked towards his roommate.

"You're quoting at me again, aren't you?" Nick asked, though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

"Aye."

Both of them smiled at the Magicians before turning back to their Duel Spirits.

"We accept," they said firmly and in unison.

A bright light burst from somewhere in front of them. Stardust and Gwenhwyfar began to disappear and entered their decks, causing another blinding flash of light.

"… _The fate of the world lies with you two, Guardians_ …"

* * *

 _ **Human World**_

 _ **Slifer Dorm**_

Slowly but surely, the two Slifer students found themselves staring at their ceiling, looking around and trying to process what had just happened. After a few minutes, their alarms started going off as the two hit the snooze button and sat up in their beds, realizing that they were now in their sleeping attires.

The two no longer felt the soreness of the shopping expedition from yesterday and also felt as if there was something different within themselves.

"…I know I accepted we weren't dreaming first, but I'm still not sure all of that happened," said Nick, finally breaking the silence.

Slowly, or at least, it felt like it was slowly, Barclay got a hold of his Deck and began looking through it.

"It… it seems… that it did…" the brown haired student replied slowly. "There are cards in here that weren't before…"

Nick was shocked and went for his deck as well, flipping through the cards and finding his entire deck completely changed to a new one. He stopped when he came across Blackwing Armor Master.

Before their very eyes, the monster manifested itself from the card and into reality, though unlike the Duel holograms they were used to, it was semi-transparent.

Blackwing Armor Master looked at Nick and cocked his head to one side as if asking if there was something needed of him.

"You're seeing him too, right?" Nick asked.

Barclay could only nod before falling back onto his bed. "So… there's no denying it now… that wasn't all just a dream…"

Nick and Blackwing Armor Master nodded silently.

"Nope," another voice said. Gwenhwyfar popped out of Barclay's deck, startling him.

"After the process was complete, the two of you were exhausted and the magicians had to bring you back here to rest."

Armor Master pointed to Nick's deck before pointing to himself.

"I…Sorry, I don't…"

"He means that now we're bonded with the two of you so we come to you whenever you need us," the female Duel Spirit replied. Armor Master gave his master a clawed thumbs-up.

"…This is gonna take some getting used to," said Nick. He rubbed his face with his hands, then noticed a glowing symbol appearing on the back of his right hand.

He gasped; it was the same swirling pattern on the shield of the statue he'd seen in the heroes' tomb. It stopped glowing once the mark had fully formed, but he was sure he could still see it on his hand.

Looking up, he saw Barclay was staring at his left hand and assumed that the same had just happened to him, only it was a sword instead of a shield.

"Now that you two have us, the Gate and Key have now been bonded with the two of you," Bar's Duel Spirit remarked as she floated slightly, disappearing and returning to her master's deck.

Nick's spirit did the same, leaving the two alone.

 _Our lives are about to get a whole lot crazier if they haven't already,_ Nick realized. _How am I going to keep this a secret?_

* * *

 _ **Unknown Location**_

The only light in the room came from the flickering torches on the walls. Three cloaked figures walked down the path to the throne, lit by moonlight through a high window.

Their leader was also cloaked, though rather than the simple black of their followers, they wore a deep crimson cape with elaborate golden embroidery; proof of royal status.

Soon enough, the trio stopped and knelt down, waiting to hear what the person had to say.

"The time draws near, my loyal warriors. I have felt the presences of the Gate and Key return to this world. I need the three of you for our plan to come to fruition."

"What would you have us do, Mistress?" one of the trio inquired, having a feminine voice.

"You three are to infiltrate Central Duel Academy and find the Gate and Key," she replied. "I will grant each of you some of my power so you can sense when one of them is near. Once you are certain you have found them, defeat the ones possessing them. That will negate the seals and allow us to proceed unhindered."

The figure on the throne beckoned to one of the three in the shadows. They moved into the light, holding a small case. They opened it and held it before the kneeling figures so they could see its contents; three cards with a malicious aura.

"Yes, Mistress!" the warriors said in unison. "Thank you, Mistress!"

Each one grabbed a card; the cards' malicious aura flowed into their bodies and they screamed in pain.

The woman on the throne smiled, anticipating the carnage yet to come.

* * *

 _ **Alright, show of hands: Who's surprised we actually have some kind of plot? … Really? Everyone? Oh, ye of little faith! (it doesn't matter than I raised my hand too, hush!) Anyways, things should really start to get moving now in the story, so rejoice! Even the small filler stuff we add in should really get that blood pumping! (hope you're all sold on this…)**_

 **Anyways, please comment and such. Feedback is important! After all, if we don't get feedback, then we will just keep doing what we're doing! (even with feedback, we'll keep going, this story's fun for us to write).**

 **Translations:**

\- " **Qué?** " - "What?"

\- " **No estamos dormidos…** " - "We are not sleeping..."


	8. Initial Order Arc: First Shadow

_**Hey! Look at that! We're sticking with that plot we were talking about! How cool is that? What? Really? That many of you are impressed? I don't know how I feel about that… Read on to see how well the plot works out!**_

 _ **Chapter 8**_

 _ **The Initial Order Arc**_

 _ **The First Shadow**_

* * *

 _ **Duel Academy**_

 _ **Auditorium**_

The auditorium was usually empty this early in the morning; students had a first period break class to allow enough time to wake up. However, on this day, Headmistress Ward had called the entire student body in for a special assembly.

Mostly they talked among themselves or attempted to power-nap in their chairs. Nick, Barclay, and their friends were in the former category. At least, Laura, Takashi, and Sera were; the newly-appointed Guardians weren't saying much of anything.

"God… Who ever decided that assemblies have to be at the crack of dawn?" Laura covered a yawn with her hand.

"Quit griping, it's not like any of us want to be here at this ungodly hour…" Sera muttered under her breath.

"Calm down, you two, I'm sure there's a reason for this. Isn't there, guys?" Takashi added.

The girls looked over to find Nick and Barclay still having blank, distant expressions.

"Guys? …Guys!"

Takashi's loud voice snapped them out of it as the two looked at their friends.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" Nick inquired.

"What's up with you guys? You've been acting weird since the mall trip… well, Bar's been his usual self, so really it's more Nick who's been acting weird. Is something going on?" asked Laura.

Barclay glared at her. Nick stammered something mostly unintelligible apart from "Just a little distracted…"

"The two of you have been quite **ghurayb** lately. **Wamimma yuthir alqalaq** …" Sera said with concern.

"It's nothing to be concerned about," Barclay managed to say through a yawn. "We've got it covered. Right, Nick?"

The red-haired teen took a deep breath before looking back to his friends, giving the best smile he could muster and nodding at them.

* * *

 _ **Yesterday**_

 _The duo were sitting in their individual beds, facing one another as they looked at the hands that held their marks._

 _They couldn't help but wonder how exactly these new marks would work for them._

 _"You think we should get gloves?" asked Nick. "You know, just in case we're not the only ones who can see the marks?"_

 _Barclay glanced at his hand. The mark hadn't reappeared since their trip to the Duel Spirit world. "That'll only raise more questions. …Alchemic and Slacker never explained what our powers actually were, did they?"_

 _Before Nick could answer, his deck started glowing as Blackwing Master appeared, surprising the two. They still hadn't gotten used to their spirits appearing out of thin air._

 _There was a few seconds of silence before the duo looked at one another, wondering how exactly they would handle this._

 _Nick decided to speak since it was his Duel Spirit._

 _"So, Master… You heard what we were talking about, right?"_

 _The spirit nodded, moving his arm up and using the other to point at the top of his hand._

 _"Right, the marks. So, do you have any idea what exactly they do?"_

 _In response to this, he opened his left hand and used his right to make it move upward. It could be described as replicating an octopus swimming upward._

 _Master_ _then put his right hand over his heart and mimed pulling something out of it. Finally, he put both hands in front of each other as if in prayer, then slowly "opened" them like a door and moved them apart._

 _After that display, both Nick and Barclay just stared in disbelief. There were a few gestures they felt they had an idea of the meaning, but overall they were clueless as to what the Spirit was trying to tell them._

 _Gwenhwyfar must have picked up on their confusion, as she emerged from Barclay's deck._

 _"What he's trying to say is that you haven't gained most of your powers yet. Not to mention some of them won't work in the human world anyway. One of your powers does work, however: Your marks can sense negative energy from anywhere nearby as long as they're active. Eventually, you can learn to open and close doorways to other places, including our own dimension."_

 _Master nodded in agreement, and the two spirits vanished._

 _"Well, now I have even more questions," Nick sighed._

 _"Calling it 'negative energy' certainly didn't help," said Barclay. "Plenty of things fall into that category."_

 _"You mean like your usual attitude?" Nick laughed, receiving a glare from his roommate. "I'm kidding. I guess we'll find out how our powers work when the time's right. For now, let's get ready so we don't miss the assembly."_

 _"I hope early-morning assemblies aren't a regular thing here," said Barclay._

* * *

 _ **Present**_

Before anyone could continue the topic further, a small siren reverberated as the students stopped to look forward towards the podium to see their teachers walking on stage. After all of them took their seat, the Headmistress herself walked up, followed by three unfamiliar people wearing what looked like the dress uniforms from other academies.

The trio sat down in three seats behind the speaker as Annabelle stood straight and looked at her students.

"Thank you all for coming this morning. I'm sorry to disrupt your day, but I have some important announcements that affect the entire student body," Headmistress Ward said, her voice being carried across the massive room by the speakers. "A few days ago, I was contacted by the other Headmasters of the Duel Academy branches that have sent one of their students to act as representatives of their homes. So now, I'd like you all to give a big round of applause and welcome them to our Academy!"

The audience stood along with the new arrivals and applauded.

"As per the agreement, each student has been placed into a specific dorm based on their scores," Headmistress Ward continued as she moved her hand towards the newcomers. "Please welcome our newest Slifer Red student, **Erhard Baasch** …"

The brown-haired student she indicated stepped forward. He wore a dark gray sport coat and matching slacks, a metal bracelet, and a golden sword pendant mostly hidden under his shirt collar. Nick only saw it because he was near the front.

" **Tauni Hunter** in Ra Yellow…"

The only female of the three, a tan-skinned girl with vibrant blue eyes, stepped forward. Her dark hair was mostly pulled back in a ponytail, except for her bangs and two strands framing her cheerful face. She wore a loose-fitting blue tunic and off-white pants under a long, high-collared black vest of some sort. Many of the guys in the auditorium cheered and were shouting about wanting to get to know her better.

"And in Obelisk Blue, **Ivor Romanov**."

The last of the three stepped forward now. He had a very noticeable scar on the right side of his square-jawed face; it stood out against his olive skin and long white hair. He was also taller than everyone on stage, almost the same height as Takashi. Unlike the other resident giant, Ivor had a much more serious demeanor; the bulky brown coat and jeans only added to that impression.

"Please welcome them and don't do anything to besmirch the name of Duel Academy," Headmistress Ward declared as the students cheered once again, calming down after a few seconds. "Now, on to the second announcement. As you all should know, Duel Academy strives to teach its students how best to grow both as duelists and as people. Since we have entered the second month of the year, it is time for our annual Promotional Exams."

The room fell silent. Faint whispers from worried students echoed through the auditorium until the Headmistress cleared her throat for attention.

"The selection process will happen this afternoon, once your Dorm Heads have received the lists of suitable candidates. I suggest you all prepare your Decks and yourselves however you need to. May the best Duelists win!"

The students cheered again; if anyone noticed the small handful of people who didn't participate, they didn't say anything as the crowd dispersed. Certainly no one noticed the darkness looming over them all.

* * *

 _ **Slifer Common Dorm**_

 _ **End of the Day**_

The rest of that day was normal by Duel Academy standards, except of course for the occasional glimpses of the new transfers.

However, someone, probably Kanoa, had redecorated the Slifer Dorm common area to look like a Hawaiian resort. Electric tiki torches stood in various places (mostly near wall outlets), fake palm trees decorated the corners, and a large hibiscus bush hid a speaker playing traditional Hawaiian music.

Many of the Slifer students, including Nick and Barclay, were all present and wearing leis provided. The door leading to the mess hall of the dorm opened wide as a large buffet tray, along with an entire roasted pig, came in lead by some of the slifer students and the organizer of the party.

The head of the dorm, Kanoa, was wearing his favorite blue floral shirt and brown shorts with his shaggy blond hair in a ponytail as he stood with the new student next to him.

"Aloha kakou!" Kanoa happily shouted, reminding all of the Slifers of the first day of the semester. "As I'm sure you're all aware, we've got a new student joining us today!"

When he said that, many of the students heard footsteps and turned towards the entrance of the lounge. Soon enough, the doors opened to reveal their newest dormmate, Erhard, who had his bags along with him.

The only part of the new student's appearance that had changed was the Slifer uniform jacket. He seemed somewhat uncomfortable in it, which might have been why he'd left the collar open.

" **Ich heiße Baasch, Erhard Baasch** ," the new student said, his tone very formal. There was a brief pause as he realized he had introduced himself in German, cleared his throat and said, "My name is Erhard Baasch. It is a pleasure to meet you all."

"No need to be so formal, Erhard!" Kanoa laughed as he walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "We're all laid back here in Slifer Red!"

"Some more than others," someone next to Barclay called out. He'd dozed off under a fake palm tree; Nick elbowed him awake and everyone laughed.

"How can you sleep at a time like this?" Nick whispered.

"Stress…" Barclay muttered.

Meanwhile, Kanoa finished his welcome speech with one of his favorite lines: " **E komo mai, e noho mai, e `ai a e, wala`au**!" Everyone in the dorm had come to learn the meaning of this phrase: 'Come in, come sit, eat and talk.' It was basically his way of saying 'I'm done talking, let's party!' How accurate this was to actual Hawaiian customs no one else really knew, but the Slifers all cheered and began moving toward the buffet table. Kanoa had prepared a variety of tropical dishes for his students, including a sizable plate of BBQ pork.

Small groups of students peeled off from the crowd to talk to their friends, including Nick and Barclay.

"…I hate this…"

"If you mean this party, sure there ain't no fish and chips, but it's not bad—"

"No, ass! I mean lying… I hated lying to our friends' faces like that," Nick remarked, and sat in the nearest chair with a frustrated sigh.

"We're not lying," Barclay replied. "We've got this covered."

"Until we don't," Nick retorted.

Barclay sighed. "Whatever. Besides, we don't exactly have the full picture. We don't know who it is we're fighting, just that we need to fight. And until we have a firm grasp on the entire situation, all we'd accomplish if we told everyone about this would be making them worry."

"Selective disinformation is still lying," Nick replied sadly.

Before the two could continue their talk, their large friend came towards them holding a plate of food in one hand and Erhard in the other.

"Hey you two, look who I snagged!" Takashi remarked.

The new student chuckled nervously; he looked a little red in the face.

"I think you can let him go now, big guy," Nick remarked.

Takashi smiled and let go of Erhard, who took a few seconds to get his breath back before looking at Nick's now-extended hand.

"Sorry about that, he gets a little overexcited at times. Welcome to the Slifer Dorm. I'm Nick Brood, you already met Takashi, and this is our friendly neighborhood grouch, Barclay Fyfe."

Erhard shook Nick's hand, nodding in Barclay's direction. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Again, you're sounding far too formal!" Nick laughed. "It's like Kanoa said, 'this dorm's pretty laid back'."

"I see that…" Erhard replied, laughing a bit himself. "It may take me a bit, but I'm sure I'll get there."

"Of course you will!" Takashi proclaimed, having sat down with his food. He paused for a moment, looking at the others. "Do you want me to wait for you to get your food?"

"Nah, go ahead, Takashi," Barclay replied and Nick gave a nod in agreement. Takashi did not need to be told twice. Erhard still looked pretty lost and unsure of what to say or do.

" **So viel zu lernen, die richtigen japanischen Grüße** ," the new transfer muttered to himself.

Nick had no idea what he had just said, but he did hear what sounded like 'Japanese'.

"Not quite what you expected, eh?" the red-haired student asked.

Erhard started a bit in shock.

"You speak German?"

"No, but the look on your face says plenty," Nick replied.

"Oh yes… Sorry, it's just very disorienting. I've never really been a talker, even back at my old academy," the black-haired Slifer remarked, looking over to the others still eating. "It feels almost like I'm in another world here…"

"Meh, give it a couple of days and you'll become a numpty like the rest of us," Barclay replied.

The trio laughed, while Erhard just looked more confused.

"It's an inside joke between us," Nick explained. He pulled up a chair for Erhard. "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it."

The transfer student went over to it and sat down, looking around before giving a soft smile.

"So, where exactly in Germany are you from?" the brown-haired Slifer asked, making Takashi look over with a curious expression on his face.

"Well, it's nowhere especially famous," Erhard replied. "A small town, about **sechzehnhundert** people, in the northernmost part of **Deutschland** , on an island in the Nordsee off the coast of **Dänemark**."

"I… have no idea where that is…" Nick said. "Even with your directions, I don't know."

"That's alright," Erhard said. "I don't think many people really know about **List auf Sylt**."

"What about a list of silt?" Kanoa asked as he approached the table. He was still smiling, but something about his expression seemed a little awkward. "Kind of a strange conversation to have with the new guy."

"It wasn't that sort of thing, Kanoa-san," Takashi remarked while swallowing as he finished the last bit of food on his plate.

"Whatever it was, I hope you guys are treating Erhard well," he said.

Erhard smiled slightly. "Yes, they've been quite welcoming."

"Good, good. Oh, before I forget; this came for you, Takashi." Kanoa pulled a piece of paper from his shirt pocket and handed it to the large student before turning around and going to another table.

"I wonder what it is…" Takashi mused as he opened and read the piece of paper.

"What's it say?" Nick asked looking at his friend.

Takashi did not reply. He was frozen with, what appeared to be, a combination of shock, excitement and a sudden, almost overwhelming, nervousness.

"Takashi?" Barclay prompted and he poked the large student's trunk of an arm.

"Oh! Sorry?" Takashi said, breaking out of the trance he had gone into.

"What's it say?" Nick asked again, more curious than before.

"It… It says I've qualified for this year's Promotional Exams!" Takashi said happily, and quite loudly, his excitement getting the better of him.

The whole room fell silent for a few seconds as everyone processed that news.

"This is a great day!" Kanoa shouted. "A new comrade and Takashi gets a shot at moving on up! Let's celebrate even more!" Everyone cheered, and Kano dragged a few students with him to get more food and drinks.

"Wow, that's awesome news, Takashi. Just think, if you manage to win, you'll be in the Ra Dorm with Laura and Sera," Nick remarked with a smile on his face.

"That's just cruel and unusual right there," Barclay replied, only to receive an elbow from his roommate.

"Who're they?" asked Erhard.

"Two girls we know from that dorm, though I'm sure you'll be getting to know them the longer you hang out with us," the red-haired Slifer replied.

They all turned to their large friend, who still had a look of disbelief on his face as he held the piece of paper in his hand. " I still can't imagine it… Me in the next dorm, it feels like a dream…" he remarked in an almost dream-like state.

"Worry about that later!" Kanoa returned holding a large cake with a picture of Slifer on it, two bottles of soda, and several dozen plastic cups; the students behind him were pushing a cart full of food. "For now, dig in before my helpers eat this entire cake themselves! **Ho'olaule'a**!"

The small group decided to enjoy themselves and went on to grab some food to eat, unaware of the danger that would soon come to pass.

* * *

 _ **Ra Dorm**_

A similar party was going on in the yellow dorm, for most of the same reasons; welcoming Tauni and celebrating some students' new opportunities to move up to the Obelisk Dorm.

One particular student didn't feel much like celebrating, which was why he was sitting in a corner of the dorm lunch area by himself. It was the only quiet place in the dorm besides his room, and even here, he could still faintly hear the party music.

He looked down and reread the short letter he'd received from his Dorm Head.

 _This is to inform you that you have qualified for this year's Promotional Exams,_ it read. _However, regardless of your performance in the Exams, you will not be promoted to Obelisk Blue until you show that you respect and live by the Academy honor code. Your behavior when dueling Mr. Brood was shameful, immature, and unbecoming of a Duel Academy student. Headmistress Ward trusts that you will be able to settle your grievances without further incidents._

Jessie balled up the letter and threw it across the room. "That damn Slacker," he growled. "If I ever see him again, I'll make him wish he never applied here!" He punched the wall a few times as further catharsis; this proved counterproductive, as while he felt less angry, his hand was red and sore.

While Jessie held his hand to try and soothe the pain, a mysterious cloaked figure made their way to the area, making him look to see the person in a cloak of sorts.

"Look, Laura, if you're gonna try to spook me, the least you could do is ditch the stupid robe. Your face is scary enough without it," he remarked with a grin.

An unknown force suddenly pushed him off his chair and onto the ground, making him start trembling in fear.

" **My, my…What a big mouth you have** ," the person remarked while walking towards him slowly. " **So much bravado and you just curl up like a little bitch when you don't have the balls to back it up… Shame, you could really be so much more** …"

"Wh-what do you mean?" Jessie managed to stammer. As freaked out as he was, it sounded like he was being offered more power. "Are… are you saying you could make me stronger?"

" **Perhaps I am** ," the cloaked figure replied. " **But everything has a price. What are you willing to trade to get stronger?** "

"Anything!" Jessie shouted almost before the question was finished.

" **Anything**?" the figure repeated. " **Hm… 'Anything' should be just about enough**."

The figure approached Jessie, who was still laying on his back as his breathing was shaky the closer the figure got to him. Soon enough, the person kneeled down, revealing two eyes as the moved their hand upward and towards Jessie's head, placing two fingers on his forehead.

"Let's start with your mind."

* * *

 _ **Oh no! Looks like Jessie's about to get into a whole mess of trouble, and who is this mysterious figure? All these questions will be answered soon enough.**_

 _ **Thanks to those who have continued to read our work and enjoyed it, especially the loyal people who love these sorts of things.**_ _ **We'd also like to thank our beta, Eneko95, for putting up with us and helping us continue our story. We hope you'll follow us as we go further with this story and bring you more incredible duels. Until next chapter.**_

 **Translations and explanations:**

 **"ghurayb"** \- "strange"

 **"Wamimma yuthir alqalaq..."** \- "And it raises concerns..."

" **Ich heiße Baasch, Erhard Baasch**." - "My name is Baasch, Erhard Baasch." more literally "I am called Baasch, Erhard Baasch." formal introductions in Germany begin with Surname then full name.

" **So viel zu lernen, die richtigen japanischen Grüße.** " - "So much for learning the right Japanese greetings."

" **sechzehnhundert** " - "seven hundred"

" **Deutschland** " - "Germany"

" **Dänemark** " - "Denmark"

" **List auf Sylt** " - the name of the town Erhard is from

" **Ho'olaule'a**!" - "Celebration!" can also be used to express gratitude


	9. Initial Order Arc: Flaming Blade of War

_**Hey there everyone, welcome to yet another chapter of Dual Guardians. A couple of things Lee and I want to announce: After talking it over, we decided to add the mainstream decks into the story. Obviously there will be changes, one being that we won't have it where there's just one copy of one card like Blue Eyes White Dragon or the God Cards.**_ _ **We'd also like to once again thank our beta, Eneko95, for helping us with the editing.**_

 _ **If you have a suggestion for a deck that might work well in the series, PM either me or my cowriter and we'll decide on it. Enjoy the chapter :)**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 9**_

 _ **Initial Order Arc: Flaming Blade of War**_

Although now with the end of that month, the Annual Duel Promotion Exams would begin, with the select people participating in order to advance to the next dorm.

On the day itself, almost all classes were canceled; the Exams could last an entire day depending on how many people qualified, and had not ended until after sundown one year. Those who had their duels later in the day spent their time fixing their decks.

Nick and Barclay's group of friends were all in the cafeteria, waiting for Takashi's duel in about twenty minutes. Most wore their normal student uniforms for this occasion, though under orders from Kanoa, the boys wore matching white headbands. Takashi had one, too, but his said "victory" in kanji.

Meanwhile, Laura was shoveling food into her mouth with fierce determination. Nick, Barclay, and Sera were equally annoyed and fascinated by this behavior.

"It's not fair!" she complained through a large bite of her burger. "I spent three hours yesterday preparing my new deck, getting all those awesome cards, and I didn't even get chosen?!"

"Do you honestly think you're the only one who's bummed they didn't get picked, al'abalah?" Sera retorted as she turned away from her friend. "The whole school wanted a chance at the Promotional Exams, don't act like you were singled out."

Barclay shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "I'm not too surprised I wasn't picked. Haven't exactly ingratiated myself with the staff."

Nick laughed. "Yeah, no kidding. I honestly can't think of any teacher on campus who's actually on good terms with your attitude."

"Not to mention how hard it is for us to tell when you're being sarcastic and when you mean it," Laura added, taking a drink of juice. She seemed to have calmed down slightly.

"I seriously doubt a teacher would believe you if you complimented them," Takashi added, not looking up from his cards.

"Oh, I'm hurt!" Barclay said with mock pain, placing his hands on his chest. "Your words have wounded me, my friends!"

A few seconds later, the group started laughing together as the mood lightened up. Despite their unusual ways, the five of them were starting to gain a reputation for being the weirdest group in Duel Academy.

After they calmed down, Nick saw his large friend put the last of his cards together before putting his Deck away. "Everything good to go?"

"Yes, my deck's at its peak right now," Takashi replied. He rubbed his nose. "Now all I need to do is see if it's enough."

"Don't get so tense about it; you did the best you could," Sera reminded him.

"I know, it's just just pre-duel nerves." Takashi sighed.

They'd all felt like that, even in the regular classroom duels.

The PA crackled to life. "Takashi Matsumoto, please report to your designated arena. Repeat: Takashi Matsumoto, please report to your designated arena."

"See you guys afterwards," said Takashi, standing up. The other four followed him to the arena, both to provide moral support and try to get a good view.

* * *

 _ **Test Area**_

The auditorium was, of course, packed with students. Most of the sections were a mix of yellow and blue, but there was one solid red block next to a marked-off exam area. It was hardly a coincidence that Takashi happened to be at the end in front of the entire Slifer Dorm.

"You guys really go all out for this, don't ya?" Laura laughed, sitting down next to Nick.

"Kano likes to say our dorm is as good as a family," Nick explained.

"That's right! Even if we move up to a new Dorm, we're all still ohana!" Kanoa added.

The rest of the dorm cheered in agreement, mixing in some encouragement for Takashi.

"Bloody hell… Now I definitely hope I'm not selected," Barclay remarked.

Sera made an annoyed huff. "Can you at least try to support your friends?"

Before Barclay could reply, Takashi's opponent walked onto the field. Some of the yellow students nearby murmured to each other uncertainly.

"Hello, Slifer Scum," Jessie declared sadistically. "Ready to learn your place?"

"Why's he here?" Nick asked irritably, hoping Kanoa had an explanation. "Shouldn't he be banned or something from this?"

"He's been allowed to participate, but he's not going to get promoted even if he wins," Laura explained.

Now the Slifers starting grumbling amongst themselves. Not everyone in the dorm knew Jessie, but they all knew what had gone down between him and Nick.

"It doesn't matter anyway! We're here to cheer for our friend and ohana!" the Dorm Head shouted. This lightened the dorm's mood instantly, and they all punched the air.

The large student looked back to his fellow Slifers and nodded, turning back to his opponent who still had a sinister smile on his face as the two put on their duel disks. Jessie's disk looked the same as it did when he dueled Nick in the forest.

Takashi's black-and-red duel disk looked more like a brick than the standard model. The digi-construct had an even simpler design-a basic black cylinder.

"It's about time," Barclay muttered.

"What do you mean?" asked Sera curiously.

"We finally get to see the big guy duel," Nick answered. "I wonder what style he uses?"

The girls looked at each other briefly. "Oh, right," said Laura. "His first duel of the semester was the same day as our mall trip, duh."

"Aye…" Barclay and Nick sighed with identical tired expressions.

Let's duel!" Takashi and Jessie shouted as the arena's sides opened to reveal the hologram projectors. Everyone cheered and put on their visors in anticipation.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a corner of the entryway, a mysterious figure watched the fight begin. The person smiled and moved their hand in a slow, deliberate circle. A thin cloud of smoke appeared around the duelists, though neither of them seemed to notice.

"Now, let us see if he holds one of them…" the person said ominously.

* * *

 **Takashi** \- 8000 LP

 **Jessie** \- 8000 LP

The two students drew their first five cards before turning back to each other, looking to the screen where they flipped a coin to determine which would go first. The coin flipped, landing with Takashi's face appearing on the screen.

"Very well, it looks like I have the first turn, here goes!" Takashi yelled out as he drew his first card, taking a look before adding it to his hand.

"I'll start by placing one card face down on the field," Takashi remarked as the card soon manifested right in front of him. "And then I'll summon to the field **Volcanic Slicer** (4/1800/1200) in attack mode!"

On the field appeared a reptilian looking, bipedal creature that looked like it was made of beige armor with silver decorations. It had no obvious eyes, but it had a large, sharp looking mouth where heat radiated out from.

"Next up, I'll activate his effect; once per turn, he can deal 500 points of direct damage!"

Volcanic Slicer screeched and launched a fiery molten rock at Jessie. On impact, sparks flew through the air and flames covered him for a few seconds.

"Ahhh!" Jessie yelled, trying and failing to defend himself with his arms.

* * *

 **Takashi** \- 8000 LP

 **Jessie** \- (8000 - 7500 LP)

"Ah… all right, this could actually be fun," Jessie remarked with a chilling smile. Nick and Barclay especially got the sense that something was wrong, as their marks glowed softly.

"I… don't know how to respond to that…" Takashi muttered, unsure how to articulate his own sense of wrongness. "I'll end my turn."

"Now it's my turn, I draw!" Jessie yelled out, taking the card from his deck before adding it to his hand. "Since you control a Level 4 monster, I can activate the effect of my **Doggy Diver** (4/1000/1000) and special summon him in attack mode!"

A pug in a yellow wetsuit, blue flippers, and red goggles appeared on the field. The audience laughed; even by Duel Monsters standards, Doggy Diver looked patently silly.

"Next up, I'll normal summon my **Attack Gainer** (1/0/0) to the field in attack mode!"

Next to the scuba dog appeared a more humanoid looking creature. It had long red hair and dark green armor on its head, arms and feet. The helmet it wore had a red orb on it, giving it the appearance of having a single eye, though below that orb was a blue visor. On its arms were large gauntlets with yellow "knuckles" and only its thumbs revealed. On its chest was a lavender colored chest piece, it wore a belt with a square, yellow belt buckle with a red Y shape on it.

"But of course, these two minions aren't going to stick around once the duel really gets started!" said Jessie. "I tune them in order to **Synchro Summon Scarred Warrior** (5/2100/1000) in attack mode!"

The monsters jumped into the air, and Attack Gainer turned into three rings of light that surrounded Doggy Diver. One cinematic flash of light later, a large, dark-skinned man covered in scars and bandages appeared and landed with a loud thud. He had a robotic right leg, and his right arm had a blade strapped to all the bandages.

"This might be a problem…" he muttered uneasily. He knew the monster wasn't real, but its height was still intimidating.

His friends were much more obviously surprised at this than he was, though for a different reason.

"Hold on, wasn't that goon supposed to have a Heroic Deck? Why the hell is he playing Synchros?" Barclay practically demanded.

Nick shook his head. "No idea… I just hope Takashi has a strategy for this..."

"That's not all. Thanks to the effect of my Attack Gainer, your worthless Volcanic Slicer now loses 1000 Attack Points," Jessie remarked. Scarred Warrior started glowing blue, and then the light flew directly at Volcanic Slicer. Its mechanical body started wearing away bit by bit until it was covered in rust.

 **Volcanic Slicer** (1800 - 800)

Takashi's eyes widened slightly. "Oh."

"Now, Scarred Warrior, teach this fool about true power, with **Death Slice!** "

The massive warrior raced forward, seemingly getting to Volcanic Slicer and attacking with its bladed arm in less than a second. A shockwave from the attack hit Takashi in the chest, and he staggered backward a few steps in pain.

* * *

 **Takashi** \- (8000 - 6700) LP

 **Jessie** \- 7500 LP

"I'm not done yet. From my hand I activate the Spell **Warrior Returning Alive!** " Jessie declared. "In case you couldn't tell from the name, this allows me to add a warrior from my graveyard back into my hand. I choose Attack Gainer this time."

A wounded swordsman appeared on the field, took a card from the Disk's graveyard slot, and showed it to Takashi. Jessie then took the card and added it to his hand.

"I'll set two cards facedown. Let's see how tough you are, tubby!"

"Yes, let's," Takashi remarked in a pained voice. His legs felt like they'd fallen asleep, and he still hurt from the earlier attack, but he kept his head up as he drew.

In the stands, Kanoa abruptly stood up. He knew the Academy's advanced holograms affected the duelists to an extent, but there were failsafes and limiters specifically to avoid causing the reaction he'd just seen in Takashi.

"Keep cheering for him, everyone, I need to talk with the technicians about something. Erhard, come sit here," he said before walking past his students and out of the area.

Erhard moved two spots down to the empty seat, keeping his eyes on the duel the entire time.

"I activate my facedown Trap, **Blaze Accelerator Reload**!" Takashi declared.

His face down card rose up and turned into a large, shiny object best described as a triple-barreled cannon. "Now by sending it to my Graveyard, I can special summon my ace, **Volcanic Doomfire** (8/3000/1800) in attack mode!"

The cannon burst into a massive column of flames, sending waves of hot air into the stands. Two red arms with vicious claws emerged from the column; then several obsidian spikes like a Stegosaurus' plates; then a molten tail; then legs the color of cooled lava; and finally the monster's large triangular head, which was still on fire even as the column vanished. It roared, showing off its mouthful of ferocious teeth. All Duel Monsters had names that fit their appearance, and Volcanic Doomfire was no different.

Jessie grinned like a madman. "Oh, I'm going to enjoy this duel a lot more now!"

"Then I'll set another card face down," Takashi continued, calmly wiping some sweat from his forehead. " Volcanic Doomfire, attack his Scarred Warrior with **Volcanic Cannon**!"

The beast roared again, then released a massive ball of molten rock that exploded as soon as it hit Jessie's warrior. Jessie himself was sent flying from the sheer force of it, and fire and rocks rained down on his side from a cloud of black smoke. "Graaaaa!"

* * *

 **Takashi** \- 6700 LP

 **Jessie** \- (7500 - 6400) LP

When the smoke cleared and the flames petered out, to everyone's surprise, Scarred Warrior still stood. His bandages and prosthetic leg were covered in soot, and there was a noticeable dent in his armor, but he was otherwise the same.

"What? Why is your monster still here?" Takashi asked in shock.

Jessie got back up and gave Takashi a crazed stare. "Hahaha! Don't you know why he's called Scarred Warrior, you fool? While I may have taken damage from your monster's attack, his special ability allows him to remain on the field after a battle once per turn."

"I see…" the large Slifer student remarked, slightly growling at the statement. "Well… I'll end my turn then."

"Good, now let's see what more sweet chaos I can stir up! I draw!" Jessie declared as he drew his next card. The sadistic look came back to his face. "Just who I was expecting…"

 _That can't be a good sign…_ Takashi thought to himself.

"I summon **X-Saber Pashuul** (2/100/0) in attack mode!"

A dark-skinned man with long black hair appeared on the field. He had an X scar on his face and wore bulky purple armor that covered his entire body. The monster's right eye and arm were prosthetic and it wielded a massive sword. Stylized X's appeared on the sword and parts of the monster's armor.

"Another worthless card, but he'll do the job I need of him," Jessie added before giving another sadistic smile. "Now, I'm going to tune him with Scarred Warrior to summon up something that'll really make things more fun!"

Both monsters jumped up into the air, and Pashuul transformed into rings of light that surrounded Scarred Warrior. The orbs spun around him until they aligned, at which point there was an explosion of white light.

"Now, let's welcome my newest minion, **X-Saber Urbellum** (7/2200/1300) in attack mode!"

A large, muscular pale man wearing multiple belts and bandages appeared. The bull's horns on the helmet only added to his height. For some reason he wasn't wearing a proper shirt; instead, he had on a modified breastplate with American football-style shoulder pads attached to a tattered red cape, which covered two large swords.

"What the hell is up with this?!" Laura cried, clenching her fists in frustration and anger.

"Um… Am I missing something?" Erhard asked.

"The guy is such a hypocrite! He always talks crap about combination decks, but he's used cards from at least three different sets so far," Laura remarked with an annoyed tone.

Meanwhile, words had completely failed Nick, who was staring at the battlefield in shock.

 _What does his have up his sleeve?_ Takashi wondered.

"I'll end my turn with a card face down, let's see what the gentle giant has in store for me," Jessie mocked as the next card manifested on the field.

"I draw," Takashi declared, doing his best to remain calm. "I'll activate the spell **Dark Room of Nightmare**. Thanks to this card, each time one of my monsters deals any kind of effect damage to you, it'll add an additional 300 points of damage. Then I'll activate my facedown trap, **Call of the Haunted** , and bring back my Volcanic Slicer!"

A dark stone room materialized in front of Takashi. Shadows on the walls suggested someone chained up and in obvious pain, as well as another holding a whip.

At the same time, the ground next to Volcanic Doomfire began cracking and emitting steam. Then Volcanic Slicer burst back onto the field in a shower of molten rock, though it looked much less imposing next to Doomfire.

"All right, now I activate Slicer's effect to deal 500 points of direct damage. That in turn triggers Dark Room of Nightmare's effect for a 300-point damage bonus." Takashi looked somewhat pleased with himself.

Volcanic Slicer shot another fiery rock from its mouth that whizzed past Jessie's monster. The spell card glowed and made the rock grow a little bigger just before it struck Jessie himself.

* * *

 **Takashi** \- 6700 LP

 **Jessie** \- (6400 - 5600) LP

Jessie snarled as he got hit once again, only this time he didn't get knocked down and even looked enraged by the attack. "Is that the best you got!?"

"Not even close. Doomfire, attack with Volcanic Cannon again!" Takashi declared as the beast roared and sent its attack once again. "Just like a fool…" Jessie muttered before he grinned confidently. "You just triggered my facedown card, **Depth Amulet**!"

A necklace on a chain of silver bones appeared slightly above the field. Two arm decorations flanked a small skull charm, which in turn rested over a pendant made of six rainbow-colored gems and a peculiar piece of some volcanic material or other.

"Thanks to this, I can discard one card to negate your attack." Jessie put a card in the graveyard slot, the trap card glowed, and Volcanic Doomfire's attack vanished with a hiss.

"I see. I end my turn, then," Takashi replied.

Jessie drew. "Good. I have the perfect card to continue your destruction.

" I summon **Goblindbergh** (4/1400/0) in attack mode!"

There was the sound of a plane gunning its engine, and a bright red WWI biplane zoomed up from behind Jessie. It did a loop around the stadium, giving the audience a brief view of the pilot's horned cap and oversized red goggles. The goblin returned to Jessie's side of the field and hovered in front of him.

"And his effect triggers, allowing me to special summon **Gagaga Gardna** (4/1500/2000) in attack mode!"

A young looking man appeared on the field. At least, Takashi assumed he looked young, as the monster was practically covered from head to toe. Blue eyes and pink hair could be seen from under a helmet and goggles, and it had an orange bandana over its mouth. It wore a long, black leather overcoat, light green chest armor, black gloves, black pants, large black shoes with protective yellow hexagons, and held in one hand a large shield.

"Now it's time to take this to the next level! I hope you're paying attention, Nick!"

Most of the Slifer students looked over to their friend as Nick glared right at his rival, remembering exactly what he was about to do right now.

 _Oh no…_ Takashi thought to himself, who also remembered this plan.

"I am gonna bring out the same warrior that you destroyed so easily to defeat your worthless friend's most treasured card!" the Ra student declared. The monsters flew up and began merging in a similar way they had the first time. "I use them to build the Overlay Network for an XYZ Summon! Come forth, **Heroic Champion - Excalibur** (R4/2000/2000) in attack mode!"

Both monsters, now covered in red and yellow light, flew upward into a miniature galaxy that opened above their heads. This caused another flash of light, blinding everyone for a few seconds.

A massive knight in red and white armor and yellow horn-like features on its helmet appeared on the field. His sword had a phoenix design on the hilt, and two orbs of light—the overlay units—orbited him.

"Obviously, Excalibur isn't quite strong enough to handle your Doomfire on his own. But! Thanks to his special ability, I can get rid of his overlay units and max out his Attack and Defense!" The orbs went into Excalibur's body, and he drew his light sword.

 **Heroic Champion Excalibur** \- (2000 - 4000)

"Excalibur! Wipe out that Doomfire with **Double Shock Sword Slash!** "

Excalibur leapt into the air towards Doomfire and raised its sword above its head. Its powerful downward slash easily bisected Takashi's monster, and just as with Scarred Warrior, the damage difference became a shockwave that knocked the large student off his feet. Takashi bellowed in pain, and was visibly panting as he got back on his feet.

* * *

 **Takashi** \- (6700 - 5700) LP

 **Jessie** \- 5600 LP

"Oh, and don't think I forgot about that worthless lizard you brought back! Urbellum, annihilate it with **Twin Saber Strike!** " Jessie's voice was, by this point, a little hoarse from all that yelling.

Urbellum was in front of Volcanic Slicer before anyone had noticed it moving. The Warrior grabbed the hilts of his swords, and then an X-shaped flash of light covered the volcano monster. A few seconds later Slicer fell apart, and the crack in the ground put itself back together. Takashi gasped in pain and sweat was pouring down his face.

* * *

 **Takashi** \- (5700 - 5300) LP

 **Jessie** \- 5600 LP

"Luckily for you, you only have two cards in your hand so Urbellum's ability doesn't trigger," Jessie remarked as his two monsters returnedcame back to his side. "I'll end my turn and enjoy watching how humiliated you must feel."

 _I'm in a real bind right now…_ Takashi thought. It almost felt like he'd gotten actual wounds, though nothing exactly life-threatening. _If this is what the test was meant for, then I can't back down…I must press forward…_

His friends all looked on in anguish as the Slifer struggled to stay on his feet, panting heavily while drawing his next card.

"Okay, I'm definitely starting to think that this is not part of the exam. We need to do something!" Laura remarked worriedly as Sera hugged her.

"Even if we wanted to, the doors are locked to keep students from interfering with exams in progress… There's nothing we can do," Barclay remarked, clenching his fist in frustration until his knuckles went white.

"We can believe in him," Nick said quietly. "Takashi's the strongest guy I know. He won't lose to whatever's happening, I'm sure of it…"

The rest of the group nodded and looked back at Takashi. When he turned his head to see them, each one shouted encouraging words. Takashi smiled fiercely and turned back to the duel.

"On my honor, Jessie, I won't back down! Now I summon from my hand, Volcanic Shell (1/100/0) in attack mode!"

A tiny creature, almost like a smaller version of Slicer, appeared in front of Takashi. Jessie didn't even try to contain his malicious, near-hysterical laughter.

Takashi only smirked. "Then I'll activate my spell card, **Circle of the Fire Kings** , which allows me to sacrifice one Fire monster on my field and special summon another one from my graveyard! Two guesses who I'm bringing back."

Volcanic Shell started to glow like molten metal. Then it grew rapidly, emitting steadily more intense heat until finally, Volcanic Doomfire burst from the shell.

"So the honest man sacrifices a pawn for the sake of the king," Jessie noted mockingly. "What was that you said about honor earlier?"

"All right, Takashi! That was cool!" Nick shouted.

"True, but Excalibur still has 1000 more Attack Points than Doomfire," Sera said quietly.

"For the rest of this turn," Laura added. "Urbellum's weaker, plus there's Doomfire's effect."

"And the Depth Amulet," Barclay reminded the group.

"But that won't last too much longer, either, ja?" Erhard said, startling the others a bit. "So, at the very least, Takashi should be able to remove whatever that Ra guy's got in his hand."

"Aye," the group replied.

"Next, by paying 500 Life Points I can add a Volcanic Shell from my deck to my hand, which lets me shuffle it again," Takashi said.

A small fire came from his graveyard slot, and he winced slightly from its heat. The fire turned into a card, which he added to his hand as his deck shuffled itself automatically.

* * *

 **Takashi** \- (5300 - 4800) LP

 **Jessie** \- 5600 LP

"Now, Doomfire, attack his Urbellum with **Meteor Flare!** "

"Sorry, fool, but my Depth Amulet is still in effect!" Jessie laughed as he discarded the one card he had in his hand. The flames died down and vanished completely. "Congratulations, you accomplished nothing this turn!"

 _Or maybe I was just trying to get rid of whatever was in your hand…_ Takashi thought with a small smirk.

"I'll end my turn, which means that your Heroic Champion - Excalibur's attack points go back to 2000," Takashi reminded his opponent as the beast's aura soon died down.

 **Heroic Champion Excalibur** (4000 - 2000)

"Like it'll matter!" Jessie retorted in an irritated tone. "I draw!"

He looked at the card and grinned widely. " _Ex_ cellent. I activate the spell **Mystical Space Typhoon** and target Dark Room of Nightmare!"

A twister roared across the field and shredded the room.

"Then I'll activate my facedown! **Reinforce Truth!** " he roared out, causing a pillar of light to erupt from the ground with a portal producing it. "Thanks to this, I can special summon a level 2 or lower monster to the field. I choose my **Heroic Challenger: Ambush Soldier** (1/0/0) in defense mode."

A monster wearing a flowing green cape, camouflage, and a special-ops face mask appeared from the portal. It carried a jagged sword in one hand, and its other arm had a wrist-mounted blade.

"Lastly, I'll switch my other two monsters into defense mode to avoid my trap's second effect…" The monsters turned blue as they took defensive positions.

"You may have gotten lucky, but it won't last, you worthless pile…"

"I'll set a card," Takashi said after drawing, completely ignoring Jessie's comments. "Next, I'll attack your Ambush Soldier with Doomfire."

There was nothing in Doomfire's way this time, and the fiery molten rock consumed Ambush Soldier. It didn't fade away immediately afterward, however.

"And since Doomfire destroyed a monster by battle, his effect activates," Takashi added, his voice calm, though not quite level. "When he sends a monster to the Graveyard, all monsters you control are also destroyed and you take 500 damage for each one!"

The fire quickly spread and swallowed up Heroic Champion - Excalibur and X-Saber Urbellum, even reaching Jessie's feet.

"Ahhh!" Jessie screamed in frustration (and some pain) as he watched his monsters burn.

* * *

 **Takashi** \- 4800 LP

 **Jessie** \- (5600 - 4600) LP

"That's my turn," Takashi said, his face set in determination.

"…I set one card face down and end my turn…" Jessie panted.

 _Is he giving up? After all that bravado?_ Takashi thought as he drew. "I summon **Flame Spirit Ignis** (4/1500/1200) in attack mode."

A small flame appeared next to Doomfire, which quickly grew into a humanoid figure with large, clawed hands and a wolf-like head. It was still tiny in comparison, but most monsters would be.

"Now, both of you, attack!" Takashi commanded.

Both monsters breathed fire at Jessie, who could do nothing to stop them. The fire surrounded him, and he screamed like a wounded animal. His faceplant when the fire died down was almost anti-climactic, but no one minded too much.

 **Takashi** \- 4800 LP

 **Jessie** \- (4600 - 0) LP

* * *

The life point counter dropped to zero, and Takashi's face appeared onscreen over the word "Victor." All of Slifer Dorm (plus Laura and Sera) rose as one and cheered for Takashi.

However, their cheers turned to shouts of horror when Takashi fell to his knees, and were cut off entirely when he, too, slammed into the arena floor face-first.

* * *

 _ **Oh no! Shadow Games! Did a Shadow Game really just happen? Who was responsible? Does Kanoa know something that our heroes don't? Plus, Takashi and Jessie have passed out! Are they going to be okay? (All right, so we care more about Takashi, but still, empathy, people! Empathy!) The plot will thicken again next chapter, and we hope you enjoy the resulting plot stew.**_


	10. Initial Order Arc: Recuperation

_**So... once again we've taken far longer than we had initially planned for this update... While it would be easy to start casting blame about, we won't be doing that (cuz that then causes all sorts of extra problems) Long story short: Real Life interferes yet again!**_

 _ **Anyways, the story is continuing! Hope this turned into that rue I mentioned last chapter. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of action in this chapter, but I think we did a great job building the story and characters some more.**_

 _ **Chapter 10**_

 _ **Initial Order Arc: Recuperation**_

* * *

 ** _Duel Academy_**

 ** _Headmistress' Office_**

Headmistress Ward's office was large and open, with floor-to-ceiling windows behind her desk for additional light. She used it as often as you would expect, but its symbolic value only really sunk in in times like this, when Kanoa, Jorge, and **Meryem Sadik** were all in front of her at once.

Meryem, Head of Ra Dorm, had a similar air of authority to the Headmistress despite being a few years younger. Her pale skin tone made her green eyes and chin-length dark hair, as well as the small scrapes on the backs of her hands, stand out. The only difference between her attire and any other Ra staff member's uniform was the shiny black boots that hugged her calves.

All three professors were waiting for someone else to speak first, which meant the room was silent for several minutes. Eventually, the Headmistress opened her eyes and looked at them, gaining their full attention as the trio looked forward.

"Now then… what's the situation?" she asked. "Meryem, you were there for the longest period, tell me what happened."

"As you know, Headmistress, Takashi Matsumoto and Jessie Alexandros collapsed approximately three hours ago during their Promotional Exams. They are both still in the nurse's office, and we have no idea what caused them to faint." said Meryem.

Kanoa coughed. "Mery, I hate to point out the elephant in the room, but it was your system that did it. I thought you had strict safe zones to avoid this kind of thing?" he remarked.

"Are you blaming me for what happened to those two?!" She glared daggers at Kanoa.

Jorge flinched. The three of them had known each other since they first came to the Academy as students, and in all that time, he'd never once heard her yell or seen her look guilty.

"I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is that the power level was way too high for the situation, I can't begin to imagine why that was the case, and your staff clearly—"

"There was no bug in my system, you imbecile. I doubt your small mind gets this, but my security programs never—"

"I'm not saying that either, and if you'd let me finish a sentence without insulting me—!"

" _Enough!_ "

Headmistress Ward's shout made the other three flinch and turn their focus back to her. She sighed in frustration and turned around.

"Until we know the cause of the problem, there is no point in casting blame." she remarked after a few moments of silence. "Meryem, I assume that you ran a full diagnostics check on the system. Did you find evidence of any bugs, malfunctions, or viruses that affected the safe zones?"

"No, Headmistress," Meryem answered. "If I had, either one of my engineers would have told me or I would have shut down the system immediately. We take our jobs very seriously."

"Very well then," the Headmistress said as she turned her chair back around. "If there was no indication of any sort of problem in the system, an outside force must be responsible for Mr. Matsumoto and Mr. Alexandros' condition."

"Like an extremely skilled hacker?" Jorge asked, though he didn't sound too sure.

"Or—" Kanoa began.

"If you bring up any of that Shadow Game-Duel Spirit mumbo-jumbo, I swear I'll lock you out of the system for the rest of this semester!" Meryem interjected angrily, though she turned away and shivered visibly.

 _Can she actually do that?_ Headmistress Ward wondered.

"Even I have to admit, **compañeros** , that's a bit of a stretch. Still, we can't just dismiss a possible explanation because we don't like it." Jorge commented.

"See? This guy gets it." Kanoa smirked.

"For right now, we have to focus on what we have, which is two injured students and no solid evidence as to how they got injured. We have to get to the bottom of this, Meryem."

She nodded respectfully before turning to leave, making sure to glare at Kanoa one last time on her way out. Then she caught herself giving the same look to Jorge, and seemed to deflate slightly.

"She's feisty…"

" **Órale** , are you still going on about that?" Jorge remarked sarcastically.

Kanoa's only reply was a casual grin.

"Thank you, gentlemen. You may go." said the headmistress.

Both men gave quick bows before leaving her alone in her office. After a few minutes to make sure that they were all gone, she let out a sigh and flopped into her chair, letting it rotate until she was facing the windows again.

"Holograms operating high above their normal settings, no sign of tampering... and reports that Alexandros was acting strangely during the Exams..." She removed her glasses and massaged her temples wearily. "As much as I hate to think about or even admit it... Kanoa may have a point..."

* * *

 _ **Nurse's Office**_

The nurse's office, which was really big enough to be a medical wing, was almost aggressively clean. Like most doctor's offices, it smelled strongly of disinfectant, and the pale blue curtains separating the beds reminded Nick uncomfortably of a hospital. He and his friends were waiting for the nurse to finish checking on Takashi. All the doors in that hallway were closed, which didn't help anyone's mood even though they knew why that was the case.

"This is probably the biggest school nurse's office I've ever seen." Nick commented, trying to strike up a conversation so they all weren't just sitting there quietly fretting.

"Aye," Barclay replied hoarsely; the stress also made him look far more exhausted than he probably felt.

Laura said nothing, but continued wringing her hands.

"With so many students on campus, it has to be..." Sera finished. She had been chewing on her lower lip and it had started to bleed a little.

"Easy, you're gonna turn yer lip intae mincemeat. At **leest futer wi' yer hans** like Laura." Barclay suggested.

"Yeah, I'm sure he's had tougher things happen to him. He'll be back to normal before we know it." Laura added, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder and smiling.

Sera looked over. Laura was doing her best to look hopeful; it must have worked, since she stopped biting her lip and even wiped away a few tears.

"Right... Right... **shakar**..." she muttered before leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes.

When the nurse emerged holding a clipboard, everyone sprang out of their seats in anticipation.

"So... How is he?" one of the Slifers asked.

"Well, apart from some minor bruising and a couple of nicks here and there, Takashi will make a full recovery."

The group sighed in relief. Takashi could shrug off a lot, so his collapse had been like watching a pedestal crumble.

"Can we go see him?!" Laura burst out, giving the nurse her best puppy eyes.

"Yes, actually, but only three people at a time. He's still recovering, so try not to get him too excited." she remarked before walking away.

As the group decided who should see him first, Nick turned from them and followed the nurse.

"Uh... excuse me, Nurse..." Nick began. "Could... could you, um, tell me which room Jessie Alexandros is in?"

The nurse looked over her clipboard. "He's across the hall, third door on the left. I wouldn't recommend seeing him yet, however. He took whatever happened to him a lot harder than Takashi did, and he's still resting."

She pointed him in the direction to go and then headed off on her rounds.

" **Sae, fir wye ye want tae gang an' see 'at fud fur**?" Barclay asked his roommate, causing the latter to jump a few inches off the ground.

" **Madre de dios!** " Nick whirled around and sighed when he saw who'd followed him, putting a hand over his pounding heart. "Geez, Bar, it's bad enough when Laura does that; I don't need you scaring me, too."

"Sorry, I'll try not tae sneak up on ye anymore," Barclay said. "Anyways, got an answer?"

"For what?" Nick asked, genuinely confused.

"For that question I asked you," Barclay replied. "About why you're going to see that **jessy**."

"Look... Even though he's the biggest **burro** we know, I can't help but feel like something was off about him... Call me crazy, but he didn't act like the normal Jessie would." Nick replied, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe I'll find the answer if I go see him."

Barclay gave Nick a hard look and there was silence between them for several seconds. Then he sighed reluctantly. "I'm not letting you go on your own. Lead the way."

* * *

 _ **Jessie's Room**_

Jessie had been connected to a cardiometer and an oxygen tank, and looked almost peaceful. Moonlight shone into the room through the lone window.

"Even with my Mistress' power, you still failed." a cloaked figure standing next to him said. "Miserably, might I add."

Of course, he couldn't respond yet, but the figure opened their robe while continuing to talk. "You let your emotions override what little talent as a Duelist you have. If you can't even control yourself against a Slifer... then I wasted the Mistress' power on you. And those who waste her power cannot be allowed to live."

The person drew a wicked-looking steel dagger and touched the point to Jessie's heart, where it began glowing purple. "Your body will continue to exist, but the Mistress requires compensation. I'm sure she'll appreciate your soul very much."

A noise outside the door caught their attention. They quickly hid the dagger as the doorknob turned, and shed their cloak just before Nick and Barclay entered the room.

"Oh? Sorry, I didn't know someone else was in here." said Nick, noticing the person.

"You're one of the new transfers, right?" Barclay asked. "Uh... Tauni... something...?"

The tan girl turned around and smiled. "Tauni Hunter. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. I'm Nick. Sorry for coming in unannounced, we didn't expect anyone to be here." the red-haired teen added, walking towards her. "So, here to visit a fellow Ra?"

"You could say that. I kinda snuck in without the nurse spying me, though... I should get going. Don't tell her I was here, OK?" she asked.

Nick and Barclay nodded, and Tauni smiled at them again before leaving.

 _Very soon… You'll met your end, you worthless husk…_

After having the room alone, both Nick and Barclay turned towards their bitter rival, who still looked peaceful under the oxygen mask. Despite hating seeing the face of the guy who disrespected his belief, Nick couldn't help but feel pity for him; nobody else had left him a get-well card or anything, not even another Ra.

"Wow... I can't believe not a single person besides Tauni and us two came to see him... It's kinda sad when you think about it." Nick whispered as he turned to Barclay.

"Just proves that the guy has no real people skills," Barclay replied less quietly. "If he treats everyone the way he treated us, then it's not a surprise."

"Bar..." Nick said warningly.

His roommate just sighed. "Look, yes, it's sad that there's no one here wishing for the guy's health. But the dobber brought it on himself."

"I know. It's just..." Nick started.

"I know. You've got a good heart and can't stand seeing anyone hurt. That's fine and good, but some people just can't be helped."

Nick gave him a serious look. "Do you genuinely believe that?"

"You can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped." Barclay remarked.

"But what if he does? What if he actually is good and just got dealt a bad hand?"

Just then, Jessie's breathing became erratic, and the heart monitor began beeping rapidly. The two turned around to see a black aura creeping over his body.

Before either of them could say anything, their marks lit up again and their Duel Spirits manifested. The aura surged upward and seemed to be reaching towards them, but Gwenhwyfar and Charge Warrior shielded their masters.

" _Master, you must call upon the power, purify the boy!_ " Gwenhwyfar remarked as Barclay looked at her in confusion.

Blackwing Armor Master nodded in confirmation when Nick caught his eye.

The two looked at each other for a few seconds before they each extended the hands with their marks forward, causing a strong beam to shoot out from their hands and shine on Jessie's body.

Eventually, it soon began to settle down and die down until the light expelled what looked like a demonic creature.

Both boys grabbed it with their hands; the shadow roared in pain as it dissolved in the light. Soon enough, their hands stopped glowing, the light dissipated, and Jessie's heart monitor and breathing returned to a normal rhythm. The two were silent for a while, trying to process what had just happened.

"What the actual **fack** is going on?" Barclay demanded, panic more than evident in his voice.

" _The Order has infiltrated the Academy,_ " Gwenhwyfar replied calmly. " _This was clear evidence of Her servants' handiwork, as was your marks activating earlier._ "

"'Her'?" Nick asked. "More importantly, what are these people hoping to achieve by... I guess trying to possess students with demons?"

" _You guess correctly. Their goal is to expose the power of the Gate and the Key,_ " Gwenhwyfar answered again. " _What they want beyond that I can't say for sure, though I would assume destruction is involved._ "

"They're looking for us?" Barclay asked. "Fack! Abso-faking-lutely **belter**! Could this get any more **pooched**?"

"Bar, calm down..." Nick said.

"Calm down?" Barclay repeated, even more agitated now. "You want me to calm down? I was under the impression that we were only trying to stop these **wallapers**! I don't remember being told that they wanted our power, which by the way, we can't even use properly!"

"Actually, the Magicians kind of did when they said ' _you will be in constant danger_ '," Nick replied, ignoring Barclay's annoyed glare. "Look, I'm not exactly OK with this either, but we knew the risks when we said yes and now we have to keep our promise..."

Despite trying to settle Barclay down, all Nick's efforts just caused him to storm out the door.

"...I guess he just needs time to get his head around this, huh?" the red-haired teen asked Armor Master, who nodded and vanished along with Gwen.

 _Guess for now, we'll have to wait and see how it's gonna go down,_ Nick thought as he walked to the door. He wasn't sure what, but something made him turn back to Jessie just before opening it.

 _You can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped._ Barclay's voice echoed in his mind, making the red-haired teen tighten his fist as he walked back to the bed.

"Maybe nobody gives a damn about a jerk like you... Maybe being all alone is what you deserve, but I'm not that type of guy and I never will be."

With that, Nick pulled a small hand-stitched cross pendant out of his pocket. He turned it over in his hands a few times, then carefully laid it on the nightstand and walked out of Jessie's room. _If I ignore a guy when he's at the lowest point in his life... I'm no better than garbage._

* * *

Nick walked forward with his hands in his pockets. He was still thinking about what had happened in Jessie's room, and didn't see Laura until she waved a hand in front of his face.

"Nick! Hello, earth to Nick!" she remarked.

"Uh, yeah?" he replied, confused about her excited attitude.

"Geez, you really gotta learn not to space out like that, both you and Bar really been having issues with that." the pale woman commented.

"Sorry." Nick chuckled sheepishly. "Anyway, what's up?"

"It's our turn to see Takashi, most of the others said their goodbyes and went back to the dorm, so come on! Takashi's waiting for us!"

Nick grinned widely. If he saw Laura's faint blush, he didn't comment on it.

He followed Laura to Takashi's room. A few other Slifers, including Barclay and Sera, were already sitting beside the bed and talking to him.

Aside from bandages around his left hand and across his forehead, the big guy seemed fine. He was sitting up and smiling hugely. Nick briefly wondered where they'd found a hospital gown in his size.

"Glad to see you're finally awake!" Laura said happily.

"Me too. Sorry you all had to worry," Takashi apologized. "I'm not sure what happened. The duel ended and I just felt completely drained."

"The nurse said that it was probably a combination of stress and adrenaline," Sera added. "Also that because there's no sign of anything physically wrong with him, it was probably just psychosomatic."

"Meaning?" Nick asked.

"Basically, she figures it was all in his head and he passed out from stress." Barclay replied.

"But now that I'm rested, I feel great!" Takashi said with enthusiasm. The big guy gave a thumbs up to his friends, who all smiled and laughed a bit.

"Aye, and the nurse says you're going to continue resting here until tomorrow." Barclay added.

"Just to be sure it's nothing, right?" Nick asked.

Takashi nodded with a smile as he saw all his friends worrying about him.

"So!" Laura said, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention. "Now that that's out of the way, think it's best that we get out of here. Our big buddy needs his rest."

The small group nodded and got their stuff, waving one last goodbye to their friend before they all headed back home.

* * *

 _ **Forest**_

The forest outside the main building was quiet except for the wind in the trees and a few crickets chirping. Three cloaked figures found their way towards a hidden grove, protected by the thick forest canopy. As an added bonus, their dark cloaks allowed them to blend into the shadows such that even animals couldn't see them.

Soon enough, they reached their destination. After a moment, one of them spoke in a deep voice. "You failed..."

"I was interrupted!" a second figure protested angrily. Tauni pushed back her hood and glared at the others. "Some Slifer losers showed up before I could finish the job!" She rounded on the shorter of them. "It's your job to manage those morons, isn't it?"

"I can't keep the entire dorm under control," the figure replied calmly. "Besides, _your_ little stunt put one of their friends in the nurse's office as well. It's only natural that they'd be there."

Tauni grit her teeth. "You can't even do your own job right, you don't get to criticize mine!"

"Enough," the deep-voiced figure said. "We did not meet here to argue. We met so we could discuss damage control, right?"

"Right," the shorter figure said. "Since Jessie is still unconscious, we'll leave him be for now. When, or if, he wakes up before our objective is completed, we'll see if he remembers anything first. If he remembers anything that could implicate us, then we silence him. **Verstehen?** "

"Da."

"Yeah, yeah."

The shorter member sighed in frustration before continuing. "In any case, we're in and the mission is still the same, so I expect results from both of you."

"Fine, just don't expect me to bow down and kiss your hand or whatever. You're not the Mistress's favorite, you know." Tauni snapped venomously.

"Oh? And you are?"

"Damn right I am!"

"If that's all there is, then I'm returning to my room." the tallest figure said, already going back the way he'd come.

"Yes, for now, the plan is to continue as is." the leader said.

"I expect _you_ as well to make sure this situation is fixed. Otherwise, _you'll_ have to deal with the Mistress after this is over."

"No way," Tauni snapped. "I won't fail her again, just you wait and see!"

Before he could reply, the woman huffed in frustration and walked away, leaving the hooded figure alone in the darkness, sighing in frustration before beginning his walk out.

"None of this really matters to me...Soon, I will have what I desire most..." were the only words he muttered before disappearing into the darkness, leaving only the quietness of the night.

* * *

 _ **Well, that was quite a long hold on updating, but we finally got it done thanks in part to our great beta, Eneko95 and her amazing work. As many of you may or may not have noticed, we've been reuploading chapters and we are almost done. Soon enough, we'll be uploading new chapters so for those who have been patient, we thank you for all your support.**_

 **Translations**

" **Compañeros** \- "Companions"

" **Órale** " - "Oh"

"At **leest futer wi' yer hans** like Laura." - "At least twiddle/mess around with your hands like Laura."

" **Shakar** " - "Thanks"

" **Sae, fir wye ye want tae gang an' see 'at fud fur**?" - "So, why do you want to go and see that complete and utter dobber/dickhead for?"

" **Madre de dios!** " - "Mother of God!"

" **Jessy** " - "Wimp"

" **Burro** " - "Donkey/Ass"

" **Fack** " - "Fuck"

" **Belter** " - "Excellent/Great/Fantastic"

" **Pooched** " - "Broken/Fucked/Useless"

" **Wallaper** " - "Idiot/Moron/Dick"

" **Verstehen?** " - "Understand?"


	11. Initial Order Arc: Stitched Warmth

_**H**_ _ **ey everyone, Ray again and as you can tell, we're having a double chapter post to make up for lost time and waiting we had made you all endure. For the next part of the arc, we will have yet another duel and try to continue the story. If the duel is kind of weird, sorry about that, when we dueled to make the replay, we kind of messed up on our turns. Hopefully it won't be too bad and you will all enjoy it.**_

 _ **Chapter 11**_

 _ **Initial Order Arc: Stitched Warmth**_

* * *

 _ **Duel Academy**_

 _ **Ra Yellow Dorm**_

It was about 5:45 am, too early even for the sunrise, but the steady whirring of a sewing machine at work still came from one of the Ra dorm rooms. By this point in the semester, everyone in that part of the dorm was used to the sound, and some people actually found it quite soothing.

This room looked like two different rooms had been mashed together. One side had green walls with forest motifs, and some potted plants in the corner nearest the window. The other had dark red walls with no clear design, a box full of fabric, another box with various sewing supplies, and a fairly new sewing machine on the desk.

Despite the only light being a small desk lamp, Sera was hard at work on her latest sewing project. Laura, far less awake than her roommate, just watched from her bed across the room.

"What are you sewing this time, Sera?" Laura asked, yawning through half of the question. She never really knew what Sera's various sewing projects were until they were almost done.

"The same thing I was sewing when you asked last night," Sera replied, though her tone was remarkably more chipper and friendly than usual.

Laura rubbed her eyes for a few seconds, then did a mild double-take when she realized that Sera had actually responded rather than tossing off an irritated one-liner. She pushed the blanket aside and sat up, shaking the oversized T-shirt she wore so it didn't stick to her.

"What's going on?" the pale woman asked with a curious tone, making her roommate look back with a nervous expression.

"What do you mean 'What's going on?' It's coming together better than I thought, that's all," Sera replied, turning back to the project.

"Something's totally up. You're never this cheerful in the morning!" Laura grabbed the desk chair and pulled it towards her before sitting in it. "Come on, gimme all the details! I bet it's something good!"

"Laura, you're really not helping my concentration right now," Sera insisted. "Honestly, can't I just be in a good mood without some ulterior motive?"

The needle landed on a pin with an audible thunk, and the fabric started bunching up a few stitches later.

Sera facepalmed. "And I was doing so well. Ugh." She lifted the presser foot and took out the bent pin. "Pass the trash can over here, would you?"

Laura, who had seen her roommate react much more expressively when something went wrong on a sewing project, got up and brought the trash can to her. "You're right, sorry. So what made the fabric bunch up like that?"

"Could be a lot of things," said Sera, tossing the bent pin into the can. "It's hard to tell with all the fabric in the way." She picked up a pair of thread scissors, pulled her project away from the machine, and cut the top thread. "In this case, looks like the bobbin ran out of thread. Not the worst thing that could have happened, but still annoying."

"What was it you were sewing again?"

Sera unfolded her project and showed it to Laura. "A jacket. I should be done with it before it gets too cold."

"I hope so. Winters back home are a lot colder than here, so I'm used to it, but I'm willing to bet it'll be a surprise for you," said Laura, getting up to grab the watering can. "So, any plans for today?"

Sera removed the bobbin from the machine and slid it onto a small metal pole on top. "Really, all I had planned was finishing this jacket. What about you?"

Laura filled it in their shared bathroom and began watering her plants. "Considering we have a day off, I'm not sure, to be honest. Maybe go visit the boys?"

The other girl perked up. "Good idea, Laura. Maybe they're lonely without us. And besides, if I spend all day in here I'll go stir-crazy. The jacket can wait for a little."

"You…want to come with me? Normally I have to practically beg you to come, are you sure everything's alright?" Laura asked, giving Sera a worried look.

"Everything's fine," Sera repeated, a little too quickly. She coughed once. "Really. Everything's fine. But I'm not about to leave you with those two unsupervised."

"Aww, worried I'll steal all of their affections?" Laura teased.

"More like take them on another shopping trip and bleed their wallets dry," Sera deadpanned.

Laura giggled and headed back into the bathroom to shower.

Once the door closed, Sera sighed in relief, folded the jacket again, and laid it on top of the machine. As an afterthought, she moved it so that the large brown "B" on the back was hidden by the machine itself. _I can't let Laura know what I'm really planning with this. She'd never let me live it down, and I'd probably die of embarrassment._

* * *

 _ **Ra Yellow Cafeteria**_

Once the two girls got into their clean uniforms, which took them a good three hours due to needing to shower and get dressed, they were ready for the day and went to fill their stomachs.

When they got in, many of the Ra students, both boy and girl alike, were all awake and enjoying the meal that was prepared for them with some still waiting in line to grab something. The cafeteria was nice and clean, with plenty of space. The tiled floor was a kind of off-white color, closer to yellow, with black square patterns scattered throughout. The overall atmosphere of the space was supposed to invoke an air of relaxation, and from the way everyone was behaving, it was working.

"Huh, guess everyone else decided to sleep in…" Laura remarked as Sera shook her head and chuckled.

"I'll go get a place to sit, while there's still spots to pick," Sera said. "You know what I like to eat."

Laura agreed and rushed over to the food line, cutting in front of two other students as she went. Sera calmly went for the first open table she could find.

After taking a seat, she pulled out her deck and started shuffling through it. She looked at each card carefully, planning combinations and building plans in her head. Occasionally she put certain cards in front of her, as if dueling an invisible opponent.

Her immersion in thinking up her strategies made Sera not realize that someone was coming up to her until the person slammed their hands against the table. She dropped her cards in surprise and looked up, biting back a choice Arabic word or two.

A familiar light-skinned girl stared at her with determined purple eyes. The girl's usual no-frills bob increased the effect, as did the white tekkō extending above her elbows.

"What do you want this time, **Rin**?" Sera grumbled.

The shorter girl glanced down at the cards scattered across the table and rolled her eyes. "Still keeping those wimpy **Fluffal** cards? When are you going to give them up and get something respectable?"

Sera rearranged her deck again. "I happen to prefer the Fluffal set, thank you very much. And your reptiles aren't much better than you think mine are," she remarked.

"Ha! At least my reptiles can't get beaten down with a pair of scissors."

"How long are you going to keep doing this, Rin?" Laura chimed in, arriving with trays of food. "You've lost to her six times already. Even I'm getting annoyed with you hassling Sera at this point."

"I will prove that I'm right!" the petite girl snapped, making a few of her dorm mates look at the commotion. "Cute things are weak, and weakness will get you nowhere in this world."

Rin then reached into her pocket, pulled out a piece of paper, and slammed it onto the table before storming off dramatically. The dark-skinned student unfolded the paper and read through it. "Another Letter of Challenge?" She groaned in frustration.

Laura sighed. "Same as always?"

"Same as always."

" **Ihana** …" Laura muttered, taking another bite of her food.

"It's not my fault she won't accept that I'm better than her," Sera pointed out.

"She's certainly persistent. I don't think she's gonna stop until she has you totally under her thumb."

"Well, if she expects to win, she better be ready for **jahim alharb** ," the dark Ra student remarked with a passion.

"If I knew what that meant I'd agree with you," Laura said.

The two then ate their food and left before Rin could come back to harass them anymore.

* * *

 _ **Slifer dorm**_

There was a calm, serene atmosphere around the Slifer Dorm, most students found themselves going out to find something to occupy themselves. Leaving a small handful back at the dorm, spending their time in their own way. For the dorm's most known twosome, they were lying down under a large tree, enjoying the cool breeze.

"You know, I gotta admit, this was a much better idea than I thought it would be," Nick remarked as he turned to see his roommate with a piece of grass in his mouth.

"Aye," Barclay replied with a content sigh. "Naethin' beats relaxin' under a cabre oan a bonnie day loch the-day."

Nick could tell from his roommate's voice that the brown haired student was close to falling asleep. The red haired student looked out at the ocean, a familiar enough sight, but something today just felt extra relaxing. Add in the fact that the tree sat high up on a hill, so the view was completely unobstructed and was located just far enough away from everything else that it almost felt isolated. The sound of snoring told him that his roommate had finally passed out and Nick felt himself fading fast as well.

 _Relaxing from time to time really helps…_ he thought as his eyelids drooped more and more. _Stressin' it doesnae help anybody._ Nick chuckled to himself, feeling he was getting close to being able to imitate Barclay's accent.

Meanwhile, Laura and Sera were doing their best not to spill the buckets of water in their hands as they approached the boys.

"Geez, you'd think they'd have better sense than just sleeping without any kind of protection, huh?" Laura whispered to Sera.

"Seriously, they're just too laid back," Sera sighed. "Especially knowing that there could be an **almakhadie** waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike."

In a few moments, they were directly over the now-sleeping pair. "On three," Laura whispered. "One…two…three!"

Sera dumped her bucket of water over Barclay, while Laura did the same to Nick.

"Gotcha!"

The boys' responses were unintelligible sputtering noises and probably at least one swear each. They stood up and glared at the girls, who were both laughing uproariously.

"That was almost too easy!" Laura remarked in between laughs.

"How did we not see that coming?" Nick grumbled, taking off his jacket. "Ugh, now my shirt's stuck to me…"

"You-you two look like drowned rats!" Sera laughed.

Barclay shook his head like a dog in Sera's direction, scattering water over the front of her shirt. "I hope ye brought towels…" he remarked in a dark tone, calmly walking towards the girls with Nick following behind.

The two girls traded nervous looks and started backing up.

"Um, Bar…Let's talk about this, I know we had our moments now, but you know it's all in good fun, right?" Laura remarked with a nervous smile.

"Of course," said Nick, smirking mischievously. "I think it's only fair that Bar and I return the favor."

Both girls took off running screaming as the boys chased after them.

Eventually, the small group laid their soaked jackets down in a particularly sunny patch of the forest, followed by the rest of them in a rough circle.

"Jeez…Didn't expect you two to actually do that." Laura pouted, annoyed that her prank had backfired.

Nick laughed. "Consider this payback for the chili pepper ice cream."

"I don't see why I had to get soaked too…" Sera groaned.

"Did you do anything ta stop her?" Barclay asked with a scolding tone.

She looked sheepish. "…No…"

"Well, there ye go, then," he said matter-of-factly.

An hour later, their jackets and hair had more or less dried off and their energy was back. The four of them stood up and brushed grass stains off their pants.

"So other than sleeping under that tree, what did you guys have planned for today?" asked Laura.

"Well, Takashi's on bed rest until next week, so Bar and I figured he could use a visit from us. You two can come with us if you want," said Nick, putting his jacket back on.

Laura smiled. "Great idea! Sera and I need a pick-me-up after the annoying morning we had."

The boys exchanged confused looks. "What happened?" asked Barclay.

"Just someone I've had to deal with since we came here," Sera said dismissively.

"Can you be—?" Nick started.

"Nick, if they don't want to talk about it, we won't make them," Barclay interrupted. "Besides, it sounds like they can handle this person on their own anyway."

Laura sighed. "We can. But it's still annoying…"

"I know that feeling," Barclay commented, scratching the back of his head.

"Well for now, let's go visit our big buddy, I'm sure he'll enjoy the company," Nick remarked as he began to walk back to his dorm with the others following him.

* * *

 _ **Takashi's Room**_

After entering Slifer and getting Kanoa's approval for the girls to join them, the group headed for Takashi's single room on the third floor. He was allowed to have one due to being a second-year student, which gave him more space for all his stuff.

They arrived in front of the door, leaving Barclay to move his arm and gently knock a few times. In a few seconds, the door slowly opened, revealing the large student. He showed to be wearing a dark brown robe and still having some bandages on his face, giving a surprised look on his face when he saw who was at the door.

"Everyone… What brings you all here?" he asked with a confused tone.

"We wanted to see you, big guy," said Laura with a smile.

"Yeah, we'd be really terrible friends if we left you all by yourself," Nick added.

"Can we come in?" Sera ignored Takashi's sudden wide-eyed expression and led the rest of them inside.

Takashi's room didn't have a lot of furniture besides the basics-a bed, a desk, a bookcase full of manga, a small table, and some pillows for guests. However, on this particular day, there were empty water bottles and manga volumes everywhere, along with some clothes and empty pizza boxes.

"Oh, no…I'm so sorry, guys, if I'd known you were coming over I would've cleaned up," said Takashi sheepishly.

Everyone had a look of surprise, never expecting that Takashi could eat so much and still not be full. "Damn man… don't you have a recycling bin or something?" Nick remarked, getting an elbow from Laura for the comment.

Takashi tried to clean, but winced from the pain he still felt.

Everyone looked at one another before nodding and going towards their friend, making him stop what he was doing.

"Why don't you let us do the work, big guy?" Laura asked in her best mom voice.

"No, no," he insisted, trying to get up with little luck as the pain was still there. "You're guests in my room, I should be the one to clean."

"You're also still recovering, and we showed up without warning you," Barclay pointed out. "So sit down or get back in bed, whichever's most comfortable, and we'll clear out some space for us."

Takashi protested some more, but his friends eventually forced him to sit back down on his bed.

"I get it, move on." Nick picked up a manga volume and laughed. "Seriously, it's not a big deal, we're happy to help you out."

Several minutes later, the room was completely free of trash and the table had pillows around it for everyone to sit down on.

"I probably couldn't have done all that on my own," Takashi admitted. He got up and went to the minifridge in the corner. "Still, I was raised to treat guests with respect, and my friends are no exception." He pulled out five bottles of soda and handed one to each of them before taking his own seat.

"We appreciate your hospitality," Sera said, sipping her drink. "Though this was supposed to be more of a check up on how you're doing."

"And making sure you haven't gone stir crazy," Barclay added while sipping his.

"I have such great friends!" Takashi cried, tears welling up in his eyes as he rubbed his eyes with his arm.

"Only because you're a great friend yourself!" Nick laughed. Takashi slapped him on the shoulder, making him choke a little on a mouthful of soda.

For a while, the group talked about recent events that happened and how classes were going. By the time all of them had their second drink, Laura decided to ask them something.

"So guys, since Takashi can't use his duel disk, how about we hold a classic tournament against one another? It'll help us pass the time and see who the better out of all of us is."

The small group looked at one another, shrugged, and got out their decks. None of them had any better ideas.

However, when Sera reached for hers, she found that there was no deck case around her waist. "… **Alllaena** … Um, there's a small problem…"

Laura facepalmed. "You forgot it again, didn't you?"

"It's probably still in my room, I'll go get it," Sera replied, blushing slightly. She stood up and brushed off her skirt.

"I'll come along," Barclay added as he stood up as well.

"What? Why?" she asked.

"Mostly to avoid whatever Laura's got in mind for the brackets," he explained, ushering her out the door.

"What do you mean 'mostly'?!" Laura called after them.

 _Boy, I wish I'd thought of that,_ thought Nick. He could tell Takashi was thinking the same thing; the big guy was an easy read.

The two were barely out the door when Sera collided with someone, bouncing back into Barclay, who fell back into the room.

"Did anyone get the license number of that **lorry**?" the brown-haired student muttered as Sera and Takashi helped him back up.

"OMIGOSH! IMSORRY! IMSORRY! IMSORRY!" came a panicked voice from outside the door.

The embarrassed student had yellow eyes and long bluish-black braided pigtails. She had a peach-blossom hairpin in the right side of her hair, and while she didn't have any special additions to the regular Slifer Red uniform, something about that simplicity made her seem both younger than she was and almost graceful.

"Sera and I are fine, you don't need to apologize so much," Barclay was saying to the girl.

"Oh! Takenaka-san!" Takashi remarked, having gotten up to see his friends out the door. "How are you?"

"I-I-I-I'm f-f-fine…" the girl managed to reply, though her face was about glowing with how red it was.

"Takenaka? You mean **Atsuko Takenaka**?" Nick asked, leaning over to see. "Hey, it is her! She's usually hiding off by herself, it's rare to see you out and about."

"Would you like to come in and have a seat?" Takashi asked, making the girl suddenly glow bright red in embarrassment as she was about to speak when Laura appeared right next to her.

"Of course she would!" Laura said, having seen the whole exchange. The pale Ra student didn't give the new girl any chance to turn down the offer, as she quickly pulled her into the room.

"Well…" Barclay said, finding himself and Sera standing outside of the door in sudden silence. "That just happened…"

"Poor girl, once my **habibi** gets her clutches on someone, she doesn't let them go." Sera chuckled softly, prompting a smile from Barclay. The two then walked down the hall and made their way back to the Ra Dorm.

* * *

 _ **Dirt Road**_

The two had been walking in a somewhat awkward silence for a while. The sort of awkward where you wind up alone with someone and realize that you don't really have a thing to talk about. They had exhausted small talk and had already heard all the stories about each other's roommates, leaving them with rather little they knew they could both talk about. And they were still about halfway to the Ra Yellow Dorms.

A glint of light caught Barclay's attention and he stopped to pick something up from the ground.

"An ankh necklace?" he said, looking at the item in his hand.

"Oh **hamaqa**!" Sera yelled out, looking back and seeing that Barclay had something in his hand and went to go see what it was, which made her sigh in relief. "Thank goodness, I thought I forgot this too…"

"It must be really special for you, then. Besides the whole 'breath of life' thing," said Barclay, handing the necklace back to her.

She carefully put it back where it belonged. "My father gave it to me before I came to the academy, as a way to remind me of home."

"Because Duel Monsters and their connection to ancient Egypt just wasn't enough?" Barclay remarked sarcastically.

"Because my father works in the **Ministry of Antiquities**." Sera started back towards the Ra dorm.

"Ah." Barclay froze in his tracks a few paces later as the information properly sank in. "Wait… your father works in the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities? That's amazing!"

"You're the first person my age who's said that to me," she said in surprise. "Most people think it's boring or useless. The ones who don't just make Indiana Jones references, which aren't very funny."

"I can't believe anyone would think Egyptian history is boring!" Barclay said, shocked. "Granted, all the famous pieces are in the British Museum and not Egypt proper, but still!"

The two continued on towards the Ra Yellow dorm happily chatting about various historical artifacts, events and figures.

* * *

 _ **Ra Dorm**_ _**Hallway**_

The two managed to make it towards the dorm without any trouble, passing through the entrance and finding their way to one of the halls with student rooms, particularly the female ones. After a few minutes of walking, Sera stopped in front of a door with Barclay behind her, taking out a key card and inserting it into a small slight above the door knob.

When it beeped, the dark-skinned woman turned the handle and opened the door.

"Well, come on in," she remarked before entering first, leaving Barclay to follow in after, catching a very strong plant scent from the room as he began to look around.

To his right, the room was green and had about a dozen potted plants that were crowded around the window. On his left, where Sera had gone and was rummaging around, the room was painted blood red with symbols painted in different shades of red, making them barely legible if they were visible to him at all.

Standing around were mannequins and dress forms, as if standing guard of the desk that a sewing machine sat on surrounded by boxes of fabrics. Barclay was vaguely aware that there was plenty more to be seen in the room, but his eyes and brain were feeling a tad overwhelmed and were only taking in a fraction of what the room held.

"Found it!" Sera shouted, startling Barclay out of his daze, seeing Sera holding her belt with the case in one hand. "I really got to put a tracker on this thing, I swear it disappears on me every couple of days or so."

"From the sounds of it, you'd lose your head if it wasn't screwed on." Barclay chuckled.

"Meh."

Sera then set about straightening up the mess she made, at least a little bit. While she was doing that, Barclay noticed something on one of the sewing machines.

"Nice looking jacket," he said, taking a careful step closer, trying to avoid stepping on anything. "How long have you been sewing?"

"Um…let's see… two years, now," Sera answered, though she was distracted by her cleaning and thought it was a different jacket that he mentioned.

When she turned around to see what he was looking at, she panicked a bit and rushed over to keep him from looking too closely at her special gift. She was thankful for her darker complexion as it made it harder for others to tell how red her face was.

As Sera went to place herself between Barclay and the jacket, her foot snagged on a blanket and she tripped. This sent her tumbling into Barclay, who tripped over the pile of fabric he had stepped over previously, causing both of them to fall on the floor.

"That's the second time in twenty minutes…" he groaned, the wind having been knocked from his lungs.

Sera pushed herself up into a push-up position and realized that she was laying on top of Barclay. She felt her face heat up even more and felt her mouth moving and it sounded, to her, that she was just babbling now.

 _Say something!_ she shouted in her head. Her nerves felt like a wreck and she could barely move.

"Hey… B-Barclay…" She managed to say.

"Yeah?" he still sounded out of breath. She was wondering why, though a part of her was figuring that he had just landed harder than she originally thought.

"Do… D-do you…?"

 **Knock Knock Knock**

 _Just when I was getting so close!_ Sera yelled in her mind, looking over to the door before turning back to Barclay and standing up. She offered him her hand, which he grabbed and got back up, dusting off his uniform from the dust that it managed to get from the floor.

"Sorry about that, I've really got to put these things away," the dark-skinned woman remarked, still blushing from the close encounter as she walked over to the door, opening it to see who it was.

Unfortunately, it was Rin, glaring impatiently at her and tapping her foot. "Do you mind? I'm kind of in the middle of something," Sera remarked with a tone that hinted her annoyed mood.

"I just wanted to go over the terms in the Letter of Challenge I gave you this morning. You know, to make sure one of us doesn't weasel her way out of what's—Oh?"

She'd gotten a look at Barclay, and her eyes widened. Then she returned her focus to Sera and smirked. "So, is the 'something' you're in the middle of anything the faculty should be worried about?"

"I don't have time for your snide insinuations, Rin. Go away."

"Letter of Challenge?" Barclay repeated, having moved a little closer. "Does anyone really do that anymore?"

"I count as 'anyone,' don't I?" asked Rin. She walked into the room and gave Barclay a once-over. "I'm Rin. What's your name, cutie?"

"I'm Barclay…" he replied. He was visibly suspicious of Rin's motives and moved back as much as he could. "So…can you answer my question from earlier?"

Sera's hands were clenched into fists, her knuckles practically turning white.

"Rin, I'm not going to tell you again: Get out of my room," she said coldly. "Our friends are expecting us, so I can't discuss the terms with you today."

"You can leave, Sera. I think I'll get to know Barclay a little better."

"Er…sorry, I'm not in the mood for it," Barclay remarked, trying to move towards the door. "We really do need to get back to Takashi's room."

"Aww, leaving so soon?" Rin said, feigning disappointment. Whatever effect she was trying for, grabbing Barclay's arm and smiling widely after she said that undermined it.

"Sooner if you'd kindly let go of my arm," Barclay retorted.

"Rin…" Sera growled. She grabbed the other girl by her uniform collar and yanked, forcing her to release Barclay. "On second thought, I have some time to discuss the terms after all."

"I'll… I'll let the others know what's going on," Barclay said to Sera.

"It was nice meeting you, Barclay." Rin winked playfully.

"Define 'nice…'" he muttered as he left.

Sera slammed the door shut and faced Rin with fury in her eyes. "I've been more than patient with your antics, Rin, but what you just did was unacceptable."

"Don't you think we have more important things to talk about?" Rin replied evenly.

Sera only continued to glare in response.

"Now, aside from our normal agreement, that being that upon defeat you get rid of those stupid, cutesy monsters, I have a new term to add," she continued, matching Sera's fierce glare. "If and when you lose, you stop associating with that boy on pain of me destroying his reputation."

 _He's a Slifer, there's not much of a reputation to begin with,_ Sera thought. "Acceptable. Since you're threatening another student's reputation, I think a steep punishment for when I win is in order…" She paused for dramatic effect. "You will wear a lolita fashion outfit every day for the rest of the year, and I'll make half of them myself. It should be fun; I don't get to make cute, frilly dresses very often."

Rin's eyes widened, no doubt from the visions of cupcake-shaped dresses and striped knee socks dancing in her head.

"Very well… Since it's highly unlikely you'll actually win this time, I accept your terms!" Rin replied, and shook hands with Sera.

* * *

 _ **Slifer Red Dorm**_

 _ **Takashi's Room**_

"Wonder what's taking them…" Nick muttered, glancing at the door. He was still waiting for his turn in the little tournament that Laura had set up in Takashi's room. Meanwhile, in the middle of the room, a large table was set with Takashi and Laura facing one another, each one having in front of them their cards in the standard form along with a digital scorekeeper on the side, showing the lifepoint count.

Though at the moment, the pale-Ra student didn't look as good as she was down to her last 500 points.

"Sera's probably just sorting through the mess that is her side of our room," Laura replied as she looked over the cards in her hand. "Jeez, Takashi, you've really got me in a bind here…"

"That's so amazing, Takashi-san, I never knew that you played like this," Atsuko remarked in awe.

Takashi played his next card and Laura's LP count dropped to zero. The machine made a cheerful beep.

She put her head down in frustration. "Dang it, I just needed one more turn and I would've won."

"That's part of the drawback to a stall deck," Takashi admitted as he collected his cards and got up to give Laura a soft pat on the back. "Sometimes my opponent can draw just the right card to completely turn the duel around."

"You had an amazing recovery against Jessie during the exam," Nick pointed out, getting up to walk towards them with his own deck in hand. "Even with him summoning his ace and destroying yours, you managed to turn things around the very next turn."

"A lucky draw," Takashi replied while waving his hand dismissively.

"From a well-made deck," Atsuko said quietly, making Laura look up and smile.

"Indeed. OK, the next duel is Nick versus-"

Someone knocked at the door. "I got it," said Takashi, already halfway to the door.

He recoiled almost as soon as he opened it. Sera was practically radiating anger. "What happened?" he asked, stepping aside to let her and Barclay back in.

"Nothing you guys need to worry about," Sera uttered quickly.

Barclay opened his mouth to say something, but then decided against it.

 _I'd hate to see what 'something' would do if that's how she reacts to nothing…_ Takashi thought with concern.

Laura had a knowing, and irritated expression, while Nick and Atsuko were just confused.

"So, what do the brackets look like?" asked Barclay.

* * *

 _ **Ra Dorm**_

 _ **Common Room**_

With the sun slowly setting, most of the other students of Ra were already getting ready to prepare for sleep, knowing tomorrow that their classes would resume normally.

Though unlike her fellow dorm-mates, Rin was only focused on building and perfecting her deck for her rematch against her most hated foe. Although frustration kept meeting her as she just didn't have the cards to back up her deck, which made her yell out and throw them on the floor.

"Damn it! Just my luck I have to go buy another new pack."

"Oh? Do you need some new cards?" a voice asked.

Rin jumped at the sudden appearance of the new figure in the room.

"If you need some new cards, I can help out," Tauni said, stepping more into the light with a kind smile on her face.

"I don't need anyone's help," Rin retorted, angrily turning away from Tauni.

"Aw, don't be like that." Tauni pouted. "Everyone benefits when we all help each other."

"I'm _fine_. I'll prove that my way works best."

"If I agree with your way, will you accept my help?" Tauni prompted.

The petite girl moved her eyes to look at the woman, intrigued by her words as she continued to listen.

"Like you, I know that to be the best you have to prepare like the best, and that means doing anything and everything it takes to get the task done. Isn't that what you desire? A chance to show up everyone, including some fools who don't deserve to be where they are…"

"…Maybe…" Rin replied, turning her full attention to Tauni.

Tauni smiled and walked closer to Rin. "So, as part of doing anything it takes…" A dark aura began emanating from her, though her cheerful smile didn't falter.

Rin was suddenly filled with a sense of dread, but she shook her head to dispel the feeling. If this was what she needed to do to finally beat Sera, then so be it. She would take whatever power Tauni had and make it her own.

* * *

 **Translations:**

 **ihana** \- "wonderful"

 **jahim alharb** \- "hell of war"

 **almakhadie** \- "trickster"

 **Alllaena** \- "Curse"

 **lorry** \- basically a semi-truck

 **habibi** \- "sister"

 **hamaqa** \- "crap"

 _ **Yet another chapter done! Again, apologies for the delays, but life happens, ya know? But, hopefully the double post on the chapters makes it up to you guys.**_ **_We are still working on making more chapters for you all to read, so this story isn't being abandoned! We just gotta readjust to our schedules. Please keep an eye out for more chapters from us! We also like to thank our Beta, Eneko95 for her hardwork._**


	12. Initial Order Arc: Primordial Fluff I

_**So, it's been a few chapters, so we owe you guys a duel, right? Well, we've got one in this chapter we hope you'll enjoy. But first, a little character development never hurt anybody, right? (Don't answer that.) I'm getting off course. Please, read and enjoy.**_

 _ **Chapter 12**_

 _ **Initial Order Arc: Primordial Fluff**_

 _ **Part I**_

* * *

 _ **Duel Academy**_

 _ **Nighttime**_

The moon was just above the treeline, shining softly over the hills and rivers near the academy. Most of the students were in their dorms, still eating dinner and enjoying their evenings.

A few students, either with some friends or by themselves, wandered around outside regardless. Nick, Barclay, Laura, and Sera were among those few, though not by choice.

The unofficial tournament had been cut short when practically all the guys in Slifer descended on Takashi's room. Somehow, word had gotten out that two lovely Ra students were in the dorm. Nick and Bar had hustled the girls out as best they could, leaving Takashi and Atsuko to manage the crowd.

Once they were away from the dorm, the small group began to make their way back to Ra Yellow.

"Well, that got annoying fast… It's like half those idiots have never seen a cute girl before." Laura sighed with clear agitation. Sera's arms were crossed and she looked more irritated than Laura, blowing a small lock of her hair out of her eye.

"Just one more move and I would've had it in the bag…" Sera muttered, thinking about the possible combo she could've pulled off to win.

"You wish," Nick remarked in a cocky tone, hoping to lighten the mood around them. "There's no way you were getting past the traps I had laid!"

"Please, you were on the ropes!" Sera retorted, a confident smile on her face as Laura chuckled at her friend's similar cockiness.

Barclay laughed, too. "Honestly, I've never seen you so afraid of some stuffed animals." "Hey, Fluffal abilities are dangerous!" Nick protested over the others' laughter. "And the **Frightfur** fusions look creepy as hell, how were you not scared of them?"

"I thought the same things about your monsters," his roommate replied with a shrug.

"Aww, is poor wittle Nicky afraid of teddy bears?" The pale student mocked in a baby tone, making both Sera and Barclay laugh as Nick only huffed and pouted.

"Still, you played quite an impressive duel, even those new cards you added made things more difficult," the dark-skinned woman remarked. Laura stopped in her tracks, and after a moment the others turned around as well.

"That's right… When did you two change up your styles?" she inquired, making both Nick and Barclay look at one another with reserve. Sera raised a curious eyebrow at them.

"Change is natural…" Barclay replied after a pause, scratching the back of his head before continuing with his explanation. "Stagnating means death after all, and it's only natural for most duelists to experiment with different deck builds and strategies the more experience they get, right?"

"Y-yeah, that's the conclusion we came to, anyway," Nick added.

"It's true that change never stops in nature," said Laura doubtfully, "but does that kind of thinking really apply to Duel Monsters?"

"Of course it does. Think about when Synchro and Xyz Summoning first showed up," Barclay said. "Once those were introduced they spread like wildfire, and everyone had to adapt or else get outclassed and left behind."

"Took me almost a month just to get Xyz Summoning down, but it was worth it," Nick added.

Sera nodded. "I see your point. But if you two know so much, why are you Slifers? From what I've seen and heard, both of you could've easily been in Ra Yellow."

"I… showed up late to the exams…" Nick admitted, blushing. "I was so excited that I stayed up too late the night before and overslept."

Laura tried and failed to hold in her laughter, and soon Sera got going for a few minutes. Once the girls calmed down, they focused on Barclay.

"Fell asleep halfway through the written portion, but other than that I did fine," he said casually.

The pair of girls looked at one another with amusement before continuing on the path back to Ra dorm.

"So, will you two attempt to move up?" the dark-skinned girl asked. She turned around in time to catch Nick and Barclay exchanging looks.

"To be honest, I'm not so sure…" Nick replied hesitantly. "Don't get me wrong, it would be amazing to advance, but…"

"Does the dorm we're in even matter anymore?" Barclay asked, yawning. "Sure, there's the bragging rights or whatever, but in the end it's your results that matter, not the color of your jacket, right?"

Laura laughed. "Maybe, but good luck convincing the faculty of that."

"He actually told them as much when we got here," said Nick. "I think that's why he's not too popular. That and the sarcasm."

"I thought it was my work ethic."

"Well, you're not wrong," said the girls, causing all four to laugh.

"So, ignorance really is bliss for you, then…it must be nice to have that kind of attitude."

The group stopped laughing and looked in the direction they'd heard the voice. They were pretty close to Ra Yellow by this point, but what really got their attention was the voice's owner.

Rin Kurosawa was waiting for them, her arms crossed and her duel disk hanging off her hip.

"Ugh," Laura muttered quietly. "This is just not my day."

Sera frowned. "That makes two of us."

"What's so ignorant about it?" Barclay asked, moving back a bit. "It's true; the jacket doesn't matter nearly as much as how you play your cards."

"Maybe it's a psychology thing? Like, 'oh, this person's in Slifer, I don't need to use my best strategies against them'?" Nick added, hoping to diffuse some of the tension.

"I'd expect narrow-minded fools like yourselves to say that. No one cares how two duelists feel about each other, they just care who has more skill," Rin countered. She detached her duel disk from her hip and slid it onto her right arm. "And the jacket tells people the duelists' skill, or lack thereof. Right, Sera?"

Sera began to shake in anger. Laura put one hand on her shoulder before she said anything, then focused on their classmate. "Rin, it's one thing to give us grief, we're used to it. But if you think we'll let you talk about our friends that way…"

"Think again," Sera finished, walking forward to meet her challenger head on. "Give me a minute to get ready and then we'll have that rematch you want so much."

With that said, she quickly ran past the petite girl, entering the dorm.

After a few minutes, Sera came back with her own duel disk, as well as fingerless gloves that matched the color of her outfit.

In mere moments, she attached the duel disk on her left hand and placed on her visor for the solid holograms the duel disk produced. Sera's was shaped like a rectangular box with rounded edges, colored in a patchwork pattern. The general impression of her duel disk was that it looked like it would open up to reveal a sewing kit. Her visor looked similar except for being purple.

Rin's duel disk was round, colored black with countless branching white lines like a spiderweb; though to be honest, Nick thought the lines' sharp angles looked more electronic than truly natural. Her visor didn't have a specific tint, which made it look even odder.

Upon activation, both their constructs manifested.

For Sera, it was silver in color and was in the shape of a sewing needle, having five spaces for her cards.

For Rin, it appeared in the double-helix shape of DNA and had a red-orange color, having one space in the middle of the intersections of the helix for her cards.

"Let's duel!" the two snarled, drawing their five cards as the others donned their own visors.

Soon the duel disks began to glow as a small dome manifested itself around them, only visible by those who were wearing the visors.

* * *

 **Sera** \- 8000

 **Rin** \- 8000

"As always, I'll start this duel off," Rin glared, looking down at her hand before deciding what to start with. "I set one card face down on the field, then summon my **Evoltile Odonto** (2/500/1200) in attack mode!"

The ground split open, and an orange turtle-like creature with vestigial wings jumped out of the hole and landed on the field. Odonto's legs and neck were purple, and bone-white spikes decorated the back of its shell and its head.

"Next I activate Odonto's special ability: Whenever he's Normal Summoned to the field, I can Special Summon one **Evolsaur** monster from my hand, and I'll choose my **Evolsaur Diplo** (4/1600/1800) in attack mode!"

A second crack in the floor opened, revealing a massive dinosaur that stood next to its tiny turtle-like ally on the field. This monster had purple skin, with a long neck and massive whip-like tail. It had dark green scales running down the length of its back, with bone white spikes along its spine.

"But wait, there's more, now I activate the spell **Evo-Force!** Thanks to this, I can tribute any Evoltile monster on my field and Special Summon one Evolsaur monster from my deck."

Odonto roared and glowed brightly for a moment before vanishing. As the physical card sent itself to Rin's Graveyard, her deck emerged from its slot. She flipped through it and found the one she was looking for.

"Now, say hello to my new pet, **Evolsaur Cerato** (4/1900/1600) in attack mode!" Rin declared as she took her monster card and replaced it with the one she'd just gotten.

The new dinosaur monster was primarily orange in color, with dark grey-green scales on its back and legs like armor. Cerato's tail had a distinct double-helix. There were spikes on its back and legs, and there were three protrusions on its head that looked like they could be horns. Like the other two monsters that Rin had summoned, this one had vestigial wings as well, though these looked more like they were in the process of becoming proper wings rather than degrading.

"Oh, and one other thing; whenever Cerato is Special Summoned by the effect of an Evoltile monster, which counts as such due to Evo-Force's effect, he gains an additional 200 Attack points."

The lizard monster roared, growing a few extra spikes on its legs. Its head protrusions also grew slightly longer and sharper.

 **Evolsaur Cerato** (1900 - 2100)

"Damn, two level 4 monsters in one turn? I don't like where this is heading…" Nick remarked with a worried tone.

"And the next card to enter the field won't be good either…" Barclay muttered, absentmindedly rubbing at his chin.

"What do you mean?" Laura remarked, looking at the brown-haired Slifer.

"I'm willing to bet that she's about to do an Xyz Summon," Barclay replied.

"If you're expecting me to be scared, don't hold your breath," Sera said to her opponent.

"Of these two? Of course not… What you should be scared of is what's about to come! I use my level 4 Diplo and Cerato to build the Overlay Network and XYZ Summon **Evolzar Laggia** (R4/2400/2000) in attack mode!"

Rin's monsters transformed into balls of light and spiraled around each other, entering a swirling black portal above the field. The portal promptly exploded with bright, piercing light; when the group could see again, a six-winged dragon surrounded by a ring of fire landed in front of Rin with a THUD.

The beast had three sets of wings; four separate, heavy, clawed limbs; a long tail that was glowing green with red stripes spiraling around it. The dragon had red markings on its body along with some designs that almost looked carved into the creature's body. Above the glowing red eyes were a pair of curved horns. Rather than two simple lights orbiting the monster, rings of flame surrounded it.

"With that, I'll end my turn. Let's see what the all-knowing Sera can do against this beast!" Rin remarked in a cocky tone, grinning with a sadistic look on her face.

Sera only glared at Rin as she drew her first card and then looked at her hand.

 _I can't do too much at the moment, so my top priority is making sure Laggia can't hurt me,_ Sera thought to herself before beginning her turn.

"I start by setting two cards face down," she declared as two cards appeared on her field. "Then I'll summon this little guy, **Fluffal Mouse** (1/100/100) in attack mode."

A small, mint green monster holding a chocolate donut appeared on the field with a squeak. With its short tail and the "blush stickers" on its cheeks, Fluffal Mouse looked more like a hamster than anything. It had tiny wings on its back and a pink bandana around its neck.

Rin didn't even try to hide her derisive laughter. "You really think that pathetic rodent can do anything? What a waste of a turn!"

"It's not over yet, is it?" Sera replied calmly. "I now activate my mouse's special ability, which allows me to Special Summon multiple copies of itself from my deck, so here's another one, in defense mode this time."

Another Fluffal Mouse appeared next to its counterpart, squeaking as the two began to dance around one another before returning to their original spots. The new mouse turned blue and hid behind the donut it held in its paws.

"Then I activate the ability of **Fluffal Sheep** (2/400/800) from my hand." Sera revealed the card to her opponent, which began glowing. "Since I control a Fluffal monster besides Sheep, I can Special Summon it from my hand in defense mode."

The two monsters on the field moved away, allowing another portal of light to emerge under them as a winged sheep with orange wool and green eyes appeared. The sheep's wings had large pink feathers, and the ends were bright red.

"Next, I activate my Sheep's second ability. By returning one other Fluffal monster to my hand, I can Special Summon an **Edge Imp** from my hand. So, I'll take back my attack mode Mouse and give you **Edge Imp Saw** (3/500/1000) in defense mode."

Another portal emerged from the field, this time however, the being that exited from it showed to be something completely different. A circular saw with a series of chop saws crisscrossing it appeared on the field, having an "X" shaped section along with what appeared to be a pair of glowing red eyes. Like its allies, it turned into a dark shade of blue, indicating that it was also in defense mode as well.

"And with that, I'll end my turn." Sera declared, looking at the row of monsters in front of her.

"Well, she's got her Life Points protected for now," Nick added as he saw the small defense she laid out in front of him. "Though it won't stay there for long if Rin draws something good or decides to attack."

"True, what she really needs is **Polymerization** in order to deal with that dinosaur." Laura bit her thumbnail and looked worriedly at her roommate.

All Barclay could do was look on and silently hope that her next turn wouldn't be her last.

"Alright, now watch how a real duelist plays!" Rin declared as she drew her first card.

"To keep you guessing, I'm gonna set this monster in defense mode," the Ra girl remarked as the card appeared on the field, hidden from her opponent. "Now, Laggia, destroy that stupid sheep with Burning Cross!"

The beast roared up and flew upwards, expanding its wings as fire soon coated them, and in a matter of seconds, Laggia flapped and released a burning X that hit the monster. The sheep cried out in pain before breaking apart into pieces of fabric and fluff, making Sera brace herself as the impact pushed her back slightly.

"With that, I'll end my turn. You're up princess."

"Thanks…" Sera replied as she drew with a swift stroke. "Perfect."

"Whatever you drew won't help you, or did you forget my Laggia is the strongest monster out right now?" Her opponent remarked, trying to make the dark-skinned girl get flustered.

"We'll see about that; I now summon **Fluffal Owl** (2/1000/1000) in attack mode!" Sera declared as she placed the new monster in another open spot.

A brown owl wearing glasses hooted as it flew down to join its fellows. For a second Nick thought it had extra eyes on its wings; then he realized it was just the pink stripes. The white feathers on its face looked so much like eyebrows that he had to stifle a laugh.

"Owl's ability allows me to add a Polymerization card from my deck to my hand," she continued.

The monster's eyes glowed as it turned around, then shot beams of light into her deck. A single card emerged from the deck as Sera got it and revealed it to it. She added it to her hand with a grin on her face.

"And now, I'll activate it to fuse—"

"Not so fast!" Rin shouted, dramatically pointing at Laggia. "You triggered my pet's special effect! By using two of its Overlay units, I can negate the activation of your spell card!"

As Polymerization appeared on the field, the dragon roared out as the two orbs of light entered its body, causing it to open its mouth and release a blue flame towards the card. It soon began enshroud the spell, burning it and causing it to break apart as Sera then sent the physical card to her graveyard.

"Damn it… I end my turn," Sera muttered.

Her three friends all had a look of worry on their faces, wondering what exactly was her next move now that she didn't have her trump card in hand.

"It's my turn now, I draw!" Rin declared before she drew and decided to start breaking down her opponent's wall of defense, piece by piece.

"Time for some more fun, I'll flip summon my facedown monster, **Evolsaur Pelta** (4/1100/2000) in attack mode!"

The now-glowing card turned over, manifesting a bluish-green lizard with massive red spikes on its shoulders and decent-sized bat wings. Smaller pink scales ran down its spine like the plates on a Stegosaurus. Its red tail had a double-helix pattern like Laggia's.

"Next I discard one card to activate my facedown, Fossil Excavation! As long as I do that every turn, I can Special Summon one Dinosaur monster that was sent to my graveyard. Welcome back, Evolsaur Diplo!"

The card in front of her began glowing white, and soon the purple dinosaur burst out of the ground next to it.

"And now that I have a pair of level four monsters again…! That's right, its time for a second Xyz Summon!"

Sera's eyes widen with fear as she saw Diplo and Pelta transform into balls of light and enter the same black portal once again.

"With these two level four monsters, I build the Overlay Network once again and Xyz Summon, **King of The Feral Imps** (R4/2300/2000) in attack mode!"

The portal burst, releasing another large figure as it soon revealed itself to be a large, grey-green colored monster. It had gold colored muscle sections on its body and large black spikes on several parts of its body. Around the wrists, ankles and head of the monster was white fluff. It wore a gold crown over its large, bat-like ears, and a gold necklace with a large red gem in the center.

"This can't be good," Nick remarked with worry. "There's no way Sera's not losing some Life Points this turn."

"Rin's certainly skilled at quickly getting Rank Four monsters on the field…" Barclay admitted.

"Annoyingly so." Laura sighed, hating to admit it more than anyone. "But that won't be Sera's only chance to play Polymerization. Remember, the Fluffals are all about getting Fusion Monsters out."

"Keep thinking that, princess," the petite girl remarked at Laura with a mocking tone as she overheard what she said. "This turn isn't done yet, now I activate Imp's special ability: By using one Overlay unit, I can now add any Reptile monster from my deck to my hand."

One of the orbs moved from its orbit into the jewel located in the center of the monster's chest, causing it to release a bellow that released a wave of green energy that surrounded Rin's duel disk. Soon enough, the deck slot released and allowed her to look through the deck until she selected her monster, **Evoltile Elginero** (2/0/0), and added it to her hand.

"Now to really get this going, Laggia, destroy that worthless flying rat with **Burning Cross**!"

The dragon roared as it rose up once again, repeating its same attack and sending a burning cross towards the owl, causing it to cry out in pain before it broke apart, again in a cloud of fabric and stuffing. Sera tried to brace for impact, but due to her monster being in attack mode, the attack was stronger than before and the force caused her to get knocked down to the ground flat on her back.

 **Sera** \- (8000 - 6600)

 **Rin** \- (8000)

* * *

"Now King, show this commoner what you have, attack with **Thunder Surge**!"

Her newest beast raised its arms up and began collecting lightning into its hands, merging them into one orb and launching it at the mouse, causing it to shatter in mere moments. Sera managed to get back up, only to have herself be knocked back on the floor from the impact of the blast.

"I think that's enough punishment for now, I'll set this card face down and end my turn." Rin announced as she set another facedown card on the field.

Sera struggled, panting a bit from having the wind knocked out of her, but didn't stay down as she got up and drew her next card. "This will help..." she muttered to herself. "I'll start by activating **Suture Rebirth** , allowing me to target a Fluffal monster in my graveyard and special summon it to the field. Too bad it also negates the monster's effect."

A table covered in fabric appeared on the field with a glowing needle.

"Say hello, once again, to Fluffal Mouse, in defense mode," Sera said.

The glowing needle entered a black portal and returned with pieces of Fluffal Mouse, sewing them together as it jumped off the table landed on the field with a squeak. "I'll set an additional monster facedown and end my turn."

The trio watching couldn't help but look at their friend with sadden looks on their faces, knowing how badly it was looking and praying that she'd get back in the momentum soon.

Rin simply smiled as she drew her next card. "You finally starting to get it now?" Rin questioned, making Sera glare at her. "This is my true power, I told you before, I wouldn't lose to you again. However, we don't have to continue this, all you have to do to end this is submit to me and admit once and for all that I am the better duelist"

Sera kept her glare at her opponent, making the petite girl grin sadistically as she decided to break her spirit further.

"Now to begin, I summon Evoltile Elginero in attack mode!"

From the sky, Elginero landed on the field and stood straight up to face its enemy. It was mostly yellow, speckled with pale pink spots. It had a white, sectioned underbelly, and its feet had red webbing. Its tail looked like a tadpole's tail. There was a pair of vestigial wings on its back, red wing-like gills on either side of its head, and grey bulbs on its back that looked like mini turrets. The creature's glowing pink-red eyes appeared in sockets that looked like they had been broken out of a shell on the lizard's face.

"Next I'll activate my facedown, **Evo-Instant**. Thanks to this, by sacrificing one reptile monster on my field, I can Special Summon an Evolsaur monster from my deck."

Elginero began glowing before transforming into a ball of light, flying upward and towards its master's deck, causing it to once again move out of its slot, allowing Rin to grab it and look through her Deck once more. After a few minutes, she selected her card and put the others back into the slot, causing it to shuffle automatically.

"Now let me introduce you to my newest beast, **Evolsaur Vulcano** (4/1200/1000) in attack mode!"

Of all the monsters that Rin had summoned so far, this one probably had the simplest design to it. A large blue dinosaur materialized on the field. It had a long neck, spines along its back, the ever present vestigial wings, jagged ears and a tail with the double-helix design.

"Also, thanks to the effect of my Elginero, whenever it is tributed, I can draw one card," Rin remarked as a small spark of light emerged from Vulcano and entered her deck.

It allowed her to draw before causing the deck to shuffle automatically.

"Next I'll set one card face down on the field. Alright then, time for me to wipe away your pitiful defense! Vulcano, attack her Mouse with **Meteor Stream**!"

The large beast roared, opening its mouth to release a flame-like jet stream that hit the mouse, causing it to squeak in pain before breaking apart, making the dark-skinned girl cross her arms and brace for the hard wind that blew her back slightly. "You might want to hold that pose! Laggia, attack her Edge Imp Saw with Burning Cross!"

The dragon roared as it rose up once again, repeating its same attack and sending a burning cross towards the metal creature, causing it to cry out in pain before it broke apart, leaving behind only pieces of metal before they disappeared.

"Last but not least, Feral Imp, attack her last pitiful defense with **Scale Slash**!"

The beast grunted and shrieked out as it jumped up high and directed itself towards the face down, slashing it with its razor sharp claws, cutting the card projection in half to reveal another Fluffal Mouse.

After that assault, Sera's field was nearly empty except for her two face downs that she still hadn't activated. "That ends my turn... So, shall we end this duel?" Rin questioned, putting her hand on her hip and waiting to see if her opponent would finally surrender to her superiority.

She drew her card and looked at it with saddened eyes, placing it in defense mode and declared her turn over.

"I'll take that as a yes. I activate my facedown card, **Offering to the Snake Deity**! Thanks to this card, by sacrificing one of my reptile monsters that is on the field, I can destroy up to two cards on your field. Now I sacrifice King of the Feral Imp and destroy those two face down cards you have!"

The card stood up and manifested an enormous snake, which promptly ate Feral Imp whole and burrowed underground. Seconds later a white orb of energy shot up to the sky, causing two lightning bolts to strike Sera's cards. They exploded instantly; Sera's arms briefly went numb from the shockwave.

 _This isn't good..._ Sera thought as she stared at her side of the field, realizing the little options she had left. _This is hopeless... How can I win?_

"Now I start my turn, I draw!" Rin declared as she drew her next card. "Now I activate this card, **Evo-Price**! Thanks to this card, each time I special summon an Evoltile monster to the field, I can destroy one card on either side of the field. Not really necessary at this point, but better to be prepared... Now, it's time for you to see what it truly feels like to lose! Vulcano, attack her facedown card!"

The blue dinosaur roared and breathed fire at the card, revealing a blue orb-shaped monster with woven wings for just a moment.

"Next, Laggia, give her some real pain and attack her life points directly!"

The dragon roared out once again, flying high into the sky and then dived right towards her and slashing down, hitting Sera and knocking her down to the ground.

 **Sera** \- (6600 - 4200)

 **Rin** \- (8000)

* * *

"In the end, Sera, you never had a chance against me. I end my turn, let's see if you're actually as smart as you say you are." In the poor lighting in front of the Dorm, no one noticed a black fog swirling up from behind Rin to surround both girls.

Her words cut the dark-skinned girl deep as she stood back up and held her arm in pain, making her start to look on with despair, realizing that no matter what she would draw next, nothing could get her out of the pit. Suddenly, something began to make her hand move up, slowly going towards her deck in an attempt to forfeit the duel.

"Don't get **muddled**!" Barclay's voice declared, snapping her out of her trance as she turned to see her Barclay looking at her with a confident look. "As long as you have even one card in that slot of your's, you still have what it takes to win."

"Wh-what?" Sera muttered as she shook her head to clear away the fog of doubt, surprised by her brown-haired friend's statement.

"Don't believe what she said, no matter how hopeless the situation looks, even one more draw can make a difference, but only if you believe in yourself and trust your deck. Show her what it means to really duel and make her see that there is never such a thing as a sure thing in Dueling!"

"Right...You're right! Thank you Barclay," the dark-skinned girl smiled as she felt her confidence being restored, unaware of a small aura that was surrounding her. With her new strength, Sera moved her hand towards her deck and placed her two fingers on the deck, getting ready to draw. " **Mathali** …"

* * *

 **Translations** :

 **muddled** \- "confused"

 **Mathali** \- "perfect"

 _ **Thanks for reading. This duel's a little longer than normal, so we had to split it into two chapters. Enjoy the cliffhanger, and see you next time. We'd also like to give thanks to our beta, Eneko95, for her continued beta work and helping us move forward. We're almost ready to finally continue posting so be on the lookout.**_


	13. Initial Order Arc: Primordial Fluff II

_**Welcome to the second part of our duel between the stuffed animal lover Sera and the reptilian expert Rin. Sorry for the late posting; Leengard and I are heading back to college so we'll have less time to work on this. Hopefully with the holidays coming up, we'll be able to continue posting. Thank you all for your patience and we hope you enjoy this chapter.**_

 _ **Chapter 13**_

 _ **Initial Order Arc: Primordial Fluff**_

 _ **Part II**_

* * *

 _ **Duel Academy**_

_**Ra Dorm**_

 _ **Nighttime**_

The moon was already high in the sky, shining its dim light down on the island, giving it a sense of tranquility. Most of the students were already back in their dorms, chatting with their friends and eating dinner. There was the exception of one small group of students however who had decided to stay outside and watch the heated duel between Sera and Rin. What had started off as a one-sided beating was now on the verge of being turned on its head, giving Sera some hope.

For Rin, meanwhile, her confident, almost cocky attitude had become mild frustration. She'd had her rival broken and ready to surrender, but something had changed to renew her will. Rin hated having to start something over again, and whatever had just happened to Sera made that look like the only option.

 _Damn it all… what the hell just happened?_

* * *

 **Sera** \- 4200 LP 

**Rin** \- 8000 LP

"It's my turn now," Sera declared as she drew her next card, hoping that it would turn the duel around for her. " **Almathali** …" she said with a sigh of relief.

"…What did she draw?" Rin remarked to herself in an annoyed tone.

"I activate **Fluffal Bear's** (3/1200/800) effect from my hand," she began to say, revealing the card. "By sending it to the graveyard, it allows me to set a Toy Vendor spell from my deck."

A pink, winged bear wearing a red neckerchief manifested itself and floated up into a shining sky created by the dome, leaving a single feather that dropped down gently onto Sera's deck. In that instant, the deck let out a single card that she revealed to be Toy Vendor before she grabbed it and placed it in her duel-disk.

"Next I activate it right now!"

The card flipped upward as a massive, colorful gashapon machine manifested behind Sera. It looked sort of like a blue, cylindrical frog wearing a tiny red top hat; two yellow bulbs just below the dome looked like frog eyes, and the pink plastic trough for the capsules appeared to be its tongue. Why it had a blue-and-red cane in one hand was a mystery to everyone.

"Alright, since I have Toy Vendor on the field, I can activate **Fluffal Wings'** (1/0/0) effect from my graveyard. By removing it and one other Fluffal monster from play, I can draw a card from my deck."

Both Wings and Fluffal Owl emerged from Sera's duel disk, slowly ascending into the sky as a creamy white feather gently floated down and landed on her deck.

"Wings' effect also means I send Toy Vendor to my graveyard," she said. The machine shuddered violently and broke apart as she put the physical card in the right place. "But on the bright side, this lets me draw another card."

One of the machine's capsules shot out and rolled up to Sera's feet, where it popped open.

"Now I summon the monster I just drew in attack mode!" Sera declared as another Fluffal Owl emerged from the capsule and landed on the field, looking directly at Rin. Another card popped out of the deck slot, which

"Like that will help, go ahead, call whatever useless monster you got. Still not strong enough to take down my monsters!" Rin exclaimed. "You sure about that? Now I activate Polymerization once again to fuse Edge Imp Sabres, Fluffal Cat, and Fluffal Leo from my hand with Fluffal Owl on the field. Say hello to one of my favorite fusion monster, **Frightfur Tiger** (6/1900/1200) in attack mode!"

All the monsters she'd just named jumped up and came together in a wormhole.

Moments later, a blue-green plush tiger with a pair of scissors bisecting it landed on the field and roared. Its body had a number of crude seams, and stuffing was leaking out in two places. Lines of energy connected its front legs to its body, and Edge Imp Sabres' glowing red eyes shone within its mouth.

"Now, Frightfur Tiger's effect activates. Whenever its Fusion Summoned to the field, I can target and destroy a number of cards on the field equal to the number of monsters I used to make it. Since I used four monsters to summon it…"

Rin's eyes went wide in shock. "Oh no…"

"Oh, yes. I choose all four of your monsters!"

The blades of the scissors extended out to Rin's side of the field and cut all of her cards in half, shattering them all to countless pieces.

"And another thing: Every Frightfur monster on the field, including Tiger himself, gets 300 more attack points as long as he's in play." Sera grinned smugly as Tiger's scissor blades started to glow.

 **Frightfur Tiger** (1900 - 2200)

"Also, because I used Fluffal Cat as Fusion Material, its effect activates and allows me to return a Polymerization to my hand from the Graveyard."

The cat appeared from the grave holding the card in its mouth, which it tossed to Sera before ascending into the sky.

"And, finally, by placing a card from my hand on top of my deck, I can special summon Edge Imp Sabres from the Graveyard." As she did so, six pairs of scissors connected to each other at the hinges appeared on the field. The handles on one pair had glowing red eyes in them.

"Are you done yet?" Rin demanded impatiently.

"Well, yes and no," Sera replied. "My main phase is done, but there's still my battle phase. You're now wide open for a direct attack from Tiger. **Frightful Slash**!"

The monster shot across the field and grabbed Rin by the shoulders. Then the massive pair of blades at its midsection closed on her with a loud, distinctive snip. Rin screamed in pain, stumbling backwards and landing on the floor.

 **Sera** \- 4200 LP 

**Rin** \- (8000 - 5800) LP

* * *

"I end my turn." Sera sighed in relief.

Frightfur Tiger released his opponent and licked a paw as she tried to get her breath back.

Sera's friends looked on and sighed with relief as well, especially Barclay, who held a smile to his friend as she turned towards him and gave him a wink.

"You think I'm gonna go down that easy?!" a snarling voice barked out. Rin's eyes were faintly red as she got back up. "I still have more power in this deck than you all do! I'm going to win this duel no matter what!"

Soon enough, the petite girl drew her next card and looked at it, which made her yell out in frustration. All that she could do at that point was set a facedown card on her field before ending her turn.

Sera drew, retrieving the Polymerization she had placed on top of her deck to Special Summon her monster.

"If it makes you feel better, I'm making this turn shorter than my last one," Sera remarked while putting the spell in her hand. "Starting with switching Edge Imp Sabres into attack mode."

The scissors' red eyes glowed a little more fiercely, and their blades snapped open with a piercing ring. "And now, I attack you directly with Tiger and Sabres! **Double Scissor Cut**!"

The green-blue tiger and the scissors launched themselves at Rin's side of the field, the stuffed toy approaching from the right and the scissors from the left. Once they were close enough, both monsters closed their blades around Rin.

Again, the sound of metal scraping against metal rang out, along with the sound of Rin crying out in pain.

 **Sera** \- 4200 LP 

**Rin** \- (5800 - 2400) LP

* * *

"That's it for this turn. I look forward to seeing your next trick, Rin!" Sera declared as her friends cheered for her.

"Wow, Bar, you can give a pretty good motivational speech when you try," said Laura.

"Two or three sentences don't count as a speech." Barclay smiled anyway. "But thanks."

Close by, Tauni looked on from the shadows.

It had started out perfectly, but the power she'd loaned this puppet was clearly declining.

 _Damn brat… Another human who can't use the mistress' power… I won't get blamed for this one,_ she thought before disappearing back into the forest.

* * *

It was pretty obvious from Rin's scowl and annoyed huff that the card she just drew wouldn't help her. With a low growl, she set a monster in defense mode, hoping it would at least keep her from getting demolished the next turn.

After Rin ended her turn, Sera's small group of friends began to pity her. Despite everything that she did to them, it was sad to see a duelist backed into a corner, having to hide behind a monster just to prolong the inevitable when they had the upper hand prior.

"It's my turn, I draw!" Sera said as she drew. "I'll set this card," she said as the card appeared next to her other facedown card. "Then, Frightfur Tiger will attack your face down monster."

As Tiger's scissor blades closed on the card, a grey serpentine monster with underdeveloped legs and small bat wings appeared just long enough to get cut in half and dematerialize. "And now, I'll cut your LP in half with Edge Imp Sabres and end my turn."

As commanded, Edge Imp Sabres charged forward and slashed at Rin with the multiple blades that made up its body, slicing and making Rin fall to her knees in pain.

 **Sera** \- 4200 LP 

**Rin** \- (2400 - 1200) LP

* * *

"Alright, Sera! You finally got her on the ropes!" Laura cheered.

"Shut up!" Rin roared out suddenly, her eyes now glowing bright red. The trio looked over and saw a mysterious aura surrounding her. "All of your worthless cheering is just nonsense! I knew that she couldn't win on her own! You all… you all must've helped her cheat, it's the only logical explanation!"

"She's **gain pure radge** ," Barclay muttered.

"That's right, you cheated! That's the only way you could've turned this duel around!" Rin continued angrily as she pointed at Sera accusingly.

"D-Does she usually act like this?" Nick asked Laura somewhat nervously. All he got in response was stunned silence from the pale girl standing next to him.

"Are you kidding?!" Sera yelled. "You insult my friends, hit on one of my friends, and now you have the gall to accuse them of helping me cheat?! I knew you were a sore loser, but this is immature and borderline insane!"

"You don't know anything about me!" Rin screamed back with tears in her eyes. "You can't possibly understand what this means to me! Everyone in my family's the best at what they do, great champions. I don't care about glory or whatever you peasants think I'm fighting for, winning is my family legacy and my destiny!"

She got back up and drew her next card. The fire went out of her eyes almost immediately after looking at it. "I set this face down and end my turn…" Rin fell to her knees again.

Seeing her opponent so broken and vulnerable, Sera couldn't help feeling a little sorry for Rin. She drew her next card without really looking at it. _I could still use my facedown card here… but that seems like overkill at this point. Better just end it quickly._

"I attack your LP with Edge Imp Sabres," she said.

The blades extended, piercing her body before retracting.

 **Sera** \- 4200 LP 

**Rin** \- (1200 - 0) LP

* * *

The Dome shut down as soon as the match ended, revealing the starry sky above. Rin collapsed face-first into the ground, prompting everyone to rush up and check on her.

Sera carefully turned Rin onto her side. "It looks like she's still breathing, just unconscious."

"That's a relief," said Nick, kneeling and wiping the dirt off Rin's face.

"Should we move her?" Laura asked with concern.

"Probably not the best idea…" Barclay replied, subtly remaining a few feet back. "You two should go get the nurse, or at least a teacher."

"R-right… come on, Sera," Laura agreed, getting back to her feet and pulling her roommate along behind her as the two went into their dorm.

As soon as the girls left, Barclay moved forward, stopping next to Nick. Both of their marks started glowing, which caused Rin to convulse; Nick tried to keep her still.

"This mess again…" Barclay muttered.

The red-haired teen nodded in agreement. "Yeah… Just like with Jessie."

* * *

 _ **Ra Yellow Hallway**_

Sera and Laura ran through the dorm, passing corridor after corridor as they looked for their dorm head. Eventually, the two finally arrived at her main room, leaving Laura to move forward and knock a few times.

Meryem opened the door and pushed her sleep mask up onto her forehead. "Lights out was ten minutes ago, ladies," she said, looking as disapproving as she could while wearing a pink bathrobe. "Unless you're here to discuss punishment for breaking curfew, I'm-"

"Ma'am, Rin's unconscious outside the dorm!" Laura exclaimed with distress in her voice. "Sorry for cutting you off. It's just like what happened to Takashi!"

"What?" Meryem exclaimed, rushing out of her room and headed straight for the main entrance with the two students following her.

It didn't take the trio of women too long to reach where the two students left their Slifer friends, but what they encountered stopped the three in their tracks.

The once unconscious Rin was now sitting upward, rubbing her head and groaning a bit, feeling as if she had just taken a ride on a high speed roller coaster several times. Nick was the first to break the silence.

"She woke up not too long after you guys left, though she's been pretty groggy…"

Meryem approached Rin and put a hand on the petite girl's shoulder reassuringly. "What happened? Can you remember anything?" she asked.

Rin sat there quietly for several seconds, blinking in confusion as she wracked her brains trying to remember what had occurred.

"I… um… well... no." Rin struggled with trying to remember before having given up on doing so.

"That's alright," Meryem said softly. "You only just woke up, some confusion or memory loss is normal. We should get you to the nurse's office just in case. Can you walk or should I help you up?"

Rin tried to stand. "Whoa… ugh, still dizzy."

Meryem helped the other girl to her feet and the two started towards the main building. For the most part, Rin seemed to be just fine, though she stumbled a little a couple of times due to lightheadedness.

"As for the rest of you," Meryem said over her shoulder, "You'd best return to your own rooms immediately."

"Yes, ma'am!" all four replied as Meryem and Rin entered the dorm.

"I'm not the only one who thinks it's weird that she woke up that quickly, am I?" Laura asked.

"Well… sometimes people black out for only a few seconds," Barclay answered. "So, no, it's not really all that strange that she woke up 'just like that.'"

Laura noticed Nick looking fidgety, and her eyes narrowed. "Uh-huh…do you know something about this, Nick?"

Nick gulped and looked to Barclay for help. His roommate just shrugged and looked the other way.

Out of options, the redhead chuckled nervously before grabbing Barclay's arm and bolting towards the Slifer dorm.

"GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW MISTER!" Laura yelled.

All Sera could do was chuckle tiredly, knowing that she'd have to hear all her complaints until she passed out from exhaustion. Though in her heart, she was just glad that they were there for her when she needed them.

* * *

 _ **Slifer Red Dorm**_

"I don't know how much longer I can keep this from them…" Nick groaned into his pillow.

After sprinting back to their dorms, the two roommates were lying flat on their beds in opposite positions. The mood in their room was heavy. Two of their friends had dueled people who had been possessed by those looking for the Gate and Key, and purifying Rin took more energy than helping Jessie had.

"At the rate things are going, I'm pretty sure they'll catch on soon enough," Barclay muttered at the wall. "When did our lives become a supernatural anime?"

"Probably the moment we stepped off of the helicopters onto the island…" Nick replied dully. He sat up and looked over at his friend with some annoyance. "Still think it was a good idea not to tell them?"

"So they could do what, try to help?" Barclay replied without turning around. "Get us committed? I went through all that with you and I think we're insane."

"I don't like lying to our friends," Nick insisted, his brow furrowed.

"We're not lying, we're—"

"Just not telling them everything, which still counts as a lie of omission."

"I was going to say, telling them what they need to know. "

"And they don't need to know about the whole possession thing?"

" **Far as aam concerned, they ne'er need tae ken if we can help it**."

A silence filled the room as the red-haired teen sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before standing up, giving his roommate a stern glare.

"Maybe that's why you have such a hard time hanging out with us. You don't trust us, or anyone."

Nick grabbed a towel and a change of clothes, then left for the showers without saying anything else.

 _Don't trust anyone?_ Barclay thought after a few moments of silence. _I trust them! … I do… I'm… I'm just trying to protect them. This situation is insane, and it's been dropped on me and Nick to deal with. We can handle it; we don't need to expose our friends to this._

"Right?" he asked the empty room. "I'm just trying to protect them…"

* * *

 _ **Forest**_

Tauni let out a roar of frustration as she stormed around the forest clearing. "That's TWICE now I haven't gotten them! Who do I have to control around here to get some results?!"

She picked up a small rock and threw it across the clearing. When she couldn't see it anymore, she whipped around and delivered a vicious punch to the tree behind her.

And immediately pulled her hand away in pain; two of her fingers were bleeding. "Dammit…this worked in that ridiculous kung fu movie…" She turned around, intending to go look for healing plants, but instead saw her compatriots from their previous meeting, cloaked as always.

"What do you two want?" she demanded.

"I would be careful how you address us, **tovarish**. You have suffered great shame," said the taller cloaked figure, dropping the rock she'd thrown to emphasize his point.

"As if!"

"You failed, deal with it. It'll make all of our lives easier," the other one replied. He leaned against a tree.

Tauni growled irritably. "It's hardly my fault if the Mistress' power can't improve those worthless Ra duelists' alleged skill."

The larger man pushed his hood back, revealing spiky white hair. "A shoddy craftsman blames her tools. You gave them the power to lure out the Gate and Key in the first place, Tauni. I will find a suitable puppet in the Obelisk dorm."

"Shut up, Ivor," Tauni snapped. "I can still prove I'm the Mistress' favorite!"

"We shall see," the white haired student replied before leaving.

Tauni huffed again and went off towards Ra dorm. The final figure paused for a moment, then turned around and went deeper into the forest.

* * *

 _ **Next Day**_

_**Ra Cafeteria**_

"Laura, I don't think stress eating will help us figure out whatever's going on with those two."

"Like I care what those two are doing! Besides, this isn't stress eating, it's just normal eating."

Sera raised an eyebrow. "So you normally eat three hamburgers with everything for dinner?"

"…Well, maybe it's a little stress eating," Laura admitted through a mouthful of burger. "But it's their fault anyway for just running out like that!"

"Oh, don't be like that. They wouldn't run without a good reason."

Laura stopped eating and sighed, feeling a bit sad from what her roommate said. "I just wish they'd talk to us about it, you know? Friends don't keep secrets from friends."

"I'm sure they will, in time. For now, all we can do is just be there and continue to support them like they do for us."

The pale girl looked over, giving a small smile at her response.

Before either of them could continue, there were sounds of whistling coming from the door of the cafeteria. Both of them turned to see what the commotion was and grinned widely.

Sera hadn't had enough time to finish one of her many works in progress, so she and Laura had bought Rin's first "punishment dress" from a costume shop in the academy mall. It was powder-blue and had ruffles almost everywhere ruffles could fit-the long sleeves, the skirt, the matching white shoes, even the white bow on Rin's head.

Laura pulled out her phone and opened the camera. "Did you know Rin was that good at walking in heels? I didn't." She hit record. "Smile for the camera, Princess!"

"Good thing that store had dresses in petite, huh?"

"I hate you both," Rin remarked in a venomous tone.

"Technically this was your idea. If you hadn't been so stubborn about dueling me, you wouldn't have had to wear that dress as punishment," Sera pointed out smugly. "Eat your heart out, AKB48."

Rin huffed and walked away as the two laughed.

* * *

 _ **Looks like the next antagonist will begin making a move. What will Ivor do? Who will Ivor use? We'll have to find out in the coming chapters! We'd like to thank our beta, Eneko95 for all of her help and dedication to our story.**_

 _ **Again, sorry to all of our readers for the continued interference from our daily lives for ruining any sort of regular updates for you all. Please continue reading and enjoying our chapters whenever we can get them out.**_

 **Translations**

" **Almathali** " - Perfect

" **She's gain pure radge**."- "She's gone completely nuts."

" **Far as aam concerned, they ne'er need tae ken if we can help it**." - "Far as I'm concerned, they never need to know if we can help it."

" **tovarish** " - Comrade


	14. Intital Order Arc: Walking Dead

_**We'd like to give thanks to our Beta, Eneko95, for helping us fix up the chapters we posted so far. Now with her, we're finally going to be continuing with the story, and hopefully we'll be able to upload without waiting for a whole year.**_

_**Chapter 14**_

 _ **Initial Order Arc:**_

 _ **Walking Dead**_

* * *

 _ **Duel Academy**_

_**Outdoor Track/Exercise field**_

September made way for October in a hurry that year. Most of the international students didn't notice anything, but many of the Japanese ones could feel the air becoming a little more crisp. Some even found the change soothing.

Duel Academy may have been meant to prepare future champions, but it was still a high school, and thus had a normal high school curriculum alongside specialty classes. To many students' dismay, this included a strong physical education program.

On this particular day, a group of male students were running laps, all wearing the standard Duel Academy exercise outfit-a polyester track suit in the appropriate color. However, the way the tracksuits were worn gave the impression of where the students were originally from. The Japanese students and the ones from cooler climates wore the track jacket unzipped or tied around their waist respectively. Those from warmer parts, meanwhile, had their jackets zipped all the way up and the sleeves.

On that day though, there were two that stood out from the others due to their different situations.

Takashi had rolled his shirtsleeves all the way up to his shoulders.

Barclay was breathing extremely heavily and sweating bullets. With each step he took, it flicked off of him like a human sprinkler. Some of his fellow classmates even asked if he was okay, only to get a quick nod and then continued his running.

"You sure you're going to be alright?" Takashi asked, slowing down to match his classmate's pace.

" **It's pure dead hot... e'en fur taps aff... efter Ah keel ower, someain drag mah corpse tae th' AC** ," Barclay panted angrily.

"You're just not used to all this sunlight," Nick commented as he caught up with the two. He was also sweating, but not nearly as much as Barclay.

After one more lap, the instructor blew her whistle and everyone stopped where they were. A few actually skidded to a halt, while Barclay straight-up face planted.

Most looked over towards the gym instructor, Fonda Fontaine, who had a clipboard in hand as she was writing some things down. She wore of a variation of the standard Obelisk Blue girls' uniform, consisting of a white jacket with blue trim, a pink skirt and heeled boots colored brown. Her red hair had one bunch that sticks out over the right side of her head. She also wore a pair of earrings, and her lips represent a soft shade of lipstick. Her large grey eyes complete her look.

"Great job, boys, you're getting better at these four-mile runs. But the girls' average times are still faster," she declared. The girls cheered as they walked over to her from where they were resting. Unlike the boys, none of the girls fully removed their tracksuit jackets. At most, a few of them unzipped their jackets partially.

"Alright, that's enough for today. Make sure you all get enough water in you and a good night's rest. I'll see you next week," she said before walking away.

The groups sighed in relief, and began walking to the locker rooms one by one in hopes of a quick shower before returning to their dorms. Nick, Laura, Sera, and Takashi stayed behind, fanning a still-sweaty Barclay.

"Geez, when you said you'd sweat like a river, I thought you were joking around." the albino girl remarked with worry as she handed him another cold bottle.

"Running for the sake of running is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of…" Barclay groaned, dumping the water more on his face than in his mouth.

"It's for your health, too, Mr. Fyfe," the teacher remarked as she walked towards them and stopped. "You may never need to run four miles outside of this class, but having the stamina to do so will keep you from getting sick. And feeling strong is enough of a reward in itself."

With that, she turned around and began walking towards the gymnasium.

* * *

 _ **Academy Card Shop**_

As had become tradition for many of the students, after classes officially ended for the day, everyone headed for the card shop to look for potential cards to use to update their decks. At the same time, many of the extracurricular clubs used this time to try and recruit more members outside the shop as well.

This led to loosely organized chaos as students haggled with each other and the clerks for cards while club presidents shouted pitches. Every kind of sport was being shouted about, every hobby was being called.

The group, after having been joined by their friends Atsuko and Erhard, stared at the crowds in surprise. They had expected it to be packed, but it looked like there was a sale going on that would only last for a few hours.

"I don't know whether to call security or the riot squad," Nick commented.

"That's what happens when there's a one-night-only sale," Laura replied before grabbing his arm and diving into the fray.

"...Well, our friend seems to have gotten himself into yet another situation," Takashi remarked, chuckling a bit as he saw them push through the students.

Atsuko nodded, feeling a bit sorry for her fellow student, knowing how pushy their friend could be. "I… I don't think I need new cards that much…" Erhard mumbled, looking at the massive crowd uneasily.

"Aye, you and me both." Barclay sighed. "I wouldn't expect you to be good with crowds, coming from a small town."

"Come on," Sera said, steeling herself to dive in after their friends. "We can't leave Laura and Nick alone."

"How can they possibly be alone in this madness?" Erhard asked.

"She means in terms of them together, especially given their relationship," the large student explained, making Erhard look over with a confused look still.

"Think of the poor guy's wallet," Barclay replied. "Laura's got him all but wrapped around her finger. She'll have him spend his entire budget on cards she wants."

"She doesn't always do that," Sera protested, defending her roommate.

"Just when the mood strikes her," Barclay said. "Did you notice the look in her eye when she said 'sale'?"

"…Oh no…" Sera groaned while facepalming. "Barclay, you, Erhard, and Takashi search the left, I'll take Atsuko and search the right."

"Right," Barclay replied.

"I thought she said you were going left?" Atsuko asked.

Sera chuckled a bit before grabbing the petite girl's hand and pulling her along while the trio of boys went the other way, avoiding the bumping from multiple students pushing to grab a pack. Luckily, thanks to Takashi's large body and strength, he easily pushed away most that were attempting to hurt his friends.

The two groups managed to pass through without too much trouble, finding themselves looking at Laura, who was holding some card packets while Nick was trampled on the floor. They all looked on with raised eyebrows at the scene in front of them.

"You look like **Big Shield Gardna** after a battle phase in attack mode," Barclay muttered to his roommate after crouching to help him up. His hair was a tattered mess with a few pieces of it out of place, and his clothes had both dirt and what looked like footprints on them.

"I feel like it," Nick replied, dusting off his clothes and fixing his hair from the mess it currently was.

"Laura **verschlimmbessert deine gesundheit** ," Erhard added, making Laura turn to the black-haired student and raise an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry?"

He realized he'd said it louder than he'd intended to, and looked at the others nervously. All he got were a few snickers and confused stares. "Uh, it means 'You give us a real workout,'" he said. "Also, good work on getting those packs."

She raised an eyebrow and continued staring at him for a few seconds. Then she smiled and went off to pay for her cards.

They all sighed in relief; Laura's tantrums were almost a force of nature.

"COME, MORTALS!" a familiar voice roared over the noise of the crowd. "LEARN THE SUPERIORITY OF HORROR!"

The group looked towards the source of the shout and saw a familiar face; Dracul (also known as Eugene) in full vampire garb, hamming it up for the imagined audience against a cloud of smoke. Unlike the mall tournament, he had two students with him; one dressed in a ragged and dirty Obelisk Blue uniform with zombie makeup, the other in a similar outfit to Dracul's but less elaborate and including a hooded cape.

The two students tried to hand a flyer to everyone who walked by. Sadly, the crowd in general gave them a wide berth. Dracul's failed maniacal laughter didn't help.

"Well…" Barclay sighed. "At least he's having fun."

"Aw come on, Bar. He's just trying to get more people involved with his interest," Nick remarked as he saw the Obelisks head towards his group.

"Greetings, mortals." Dracul laughed as he approached. "Have you come to experience the glory that is the Horror Fan Club?"

"Absolutely not," Sera said immediately.

"Says the girl with the horror movie monsters in her deck," Barclay muttered.

"Frightfur monsters aren't the same," she protested.

"What she's trying to say is that some of us aren't big horror fans. I'm not sure about them myself, but I thought your entrance at the mall tournament was cool. How'd you pull that off?" asked Nick.

Dracul smiled proudly. "Ah, so you do wish to learn my secrets!"

"Yeah, some of them look amazing," Atsuko added as she looked at him with wonder.

"Well, I… thank you, I worked hard to get them all perfect," Dracul replied, dropping the act.

"I can tell. I'm guessing you use some kind of smoke bombs or pellets?" Erhard questioned.

"Mostly pellets, to be honest, but Dracul uses smoke bombs for events like this," the Obelisk dressed like a zombie replied.

"How do you carry them around? Does your cape have pockets?" Takeshi asked, leaning down to try and look.

"No, pockets would weigh the cape down and make it easier for me to trip," Dracul replied. "We just get used to having them in our pants. The problem being, of course, when they go off without you wanting them to…"

The student wearing a hood rolled his eyes. "Boss, I've told you before, using invisible thread to rip the things open won't ruin the illusion."

"But my finger going numb definitely will," Dracul snarked back.

Barclay laughed.

* * *

A few feet away, a handful of Obelisk students were giving Dracul the evil eye.

"Can't believe that traitor is talking to a bunch of Slifer slackers; and even worse, those stupid Ra's."

"How a weirdo like him ended up as one of us I'll never understand."

"Don't worry," the leader of the bunch said with malice. "He's gonna learn what happens to traitors."

* * *

Meanwhile, Laura had just finished paying for her packs, smiling with excitement as she wondered what kind of cards they had. With her small bag, she turned around and walked back to her group, though when she looked up, her joy turned sour.

"Hey! What are you doing with them?" the pale girl remarked with an annoyed tone, making her friends look over to see her coming towards them.

"Hi, Laura. Finally finished buying your packs?" Sera asked.

"Dracula was just showing us some of the special effects stuff they've got," Nick added.

"I'm flattered, but it's Dracul."

"Like how they make blood packs with corn syrup, red food coloring, and plastic bags!" he continued, ignoring the correction. "I didn't know you could do those kinds of special effects on a student budget!"

"What kind of horror movie fan club would we be if we couldn't?" the Obelisk zombie chuckled. "If you're interested in learning more, I can send you my favorite zombie makeup tutorial."

"Are you trying to convince them to join your ridiculous club?" Laura asked, her voice icy. "Um, Laura, he's just trying to be nice," Atsuko remarked nervously.

"Atsuko's right, there's no reason for all this hostility," Takashi added.

While the group was distracted by Laura's return, none of them noticed the approaching Obelisk students until both Dracul and his "minions" were shoved to the ground.

"Now what?" Barclay demanded, turning towards the newcomers.

Whether they noticed, Barclay and Nick had placed themselves between the two groups. While the two less than impressive Slifers did not do much to intimidate the new group, Takashi's massive bulk behind them helped cut the laughter short.

"Dracul, are you OK?" Atsuko remarked as she, Sera, and Erhard helped the three that were on the floor. Soon enough, they turned their attention back to the others.

"What's your problem?" Nick asked, glaring at them.

"Gonna let yourself be defended by some Slifer slackers, Nicolescu?" one of the new Obelisks taunted. "First your stupid movie club and now this? How much lamer can you get?"

"Not so tough outside the Mall, huh, _Champ_?" another one mocked.

Dracul and his friends, after getting back to their feet and thanking the others, were dusting themselves off or readjusting their outfits.

"Hah…! Foolish mortals!" Dracul boasted, getting back into the act. "The Vampire King cannot be felled by such pitiful tricks!"

"Geez, you're just as hopeless as ever. No wonder you can't get a date; girls can't stomach a stale ham and cheese sandwich."

"Hey, asshole, where the hell do you get off talking to him like that?" Nick demanded.

"I'd suggest you all leave immediately," Takashi added with a stern voice.

"Or what?" the Obelisk who seemed to be in charge countered. "Do you really think anyone is going to side with you losers over us?"

"Regardless of who sides with us, just know that you will suffer consequences," Barclay replied firmly.

"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Dracul stepped forward, placing himself in front of the group as if he were the leader of a crew. "THAT'S RIGHT! LEAVE NOW OR FACE THE WRATH OF—!"

The leader of the Obelisk group shoved him backwards before he could finish his threat. He landed heavily on his rear with an "Oof!" This was immediately followed by numerous popping sounds and hissing. Shortly after that a massive cloud of smoke began billowing out from under Dracul.

He yelled in pain and began rolling around, trying to put out the smoke bombs if not get them off him altogether.

"How's that for you, geek?!" the leader taunted. His friends threw back their heads and laughed, which of course got the rest of the crowd going too. Even Laura snickered a bit, to her friends' shock and concern.

The humiliated student jumped up and ran away from the card shop with tears in his eyes. His assistants ran after him in a panic, to the crowd's continued amusement.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" someone yelled from behind them. The crowd, now silent, turned and came faces-to-face with Ms. Dorothy, the card shop's owner. Her brown eyes looked uncharacteristically fierce, as did her plump face.

"You should all be ashamed of yourselves, laughing at that poor boy's suffering! As for you three"—she pointed at the troublemaking Obelisks—"I better not see you anywhere near my card shop for the rest of the semester! Now get out!"

Most of the students quickly left the area to avoid making her even angrier. Only Nick and his friends remained.

"I gotta learn how to clear a room that fast," said Laura.

"Was that supposed to be funny?" Sera asked, glaring. "Because it wasn't. Just sad."

The boys (and Atsuko) didn't say anything, but the disapproving looks on their faces spoke volumes. They turned and walked off, leaving the pale girl standing alone and somewhat bewildered.

No one noticed Ivor sitting by himself and reading. He'd watched the entire incident go down, and got up once Laura left. He knew he had the perfect tool to draw the Gate and Key into the open.

* * *

 _ **Forest**_

The humiliated Obelisk Blue student fled the main areas of campus, smoke still trailing behind him. He didn't know where he was running, only that he needed to get as far away from everyone else as possible. In spite of his looks, Dracul was actually a pretty fast runner with good endurance.

When he finally tired out and came to a stumbling halt, he looked around and found himself somewhere in the island's forest. It was an older part of the forest that had clearly not seen any human activity in years. While he caught his breath and wiped his face, he saw an old, unused, rather decrepit looking building.

He stared at it in confusion for a few moments before it finally clicked.

"The old abandoned dorm?" he muttered, getting to his feet. "Huh. I've always thought this would be a great place for a Horror Fan Club midnight meeting."

He wiped a few tears from his eyes before opening the gates and walking forward. When he opened the front door, a loud creak and a cloud of dust greeted him. He coughed and waved the cloud away, and as he walked into the entrance hall…

A flashlight clicked on in front of him, revealing Ivor.

Both boys screamed, and Dracul almost fell on his butt again.

"Oh, **prosti** , comrade Dracul. I was not expecting to see anyone else here," said Ivor.

"Ah… uh… Y-yes!" he stammered, recovering his usual bravado. "Of course I'd be here! I am the Vampire King! This place is like my castle away from castle! What brings you here, mortal?"

"I had learned about this from some of our comrades, and it reminded me of the fairy tales Mama told me as a child," the white-haired student explained. He walked deeper into the dorm, motioning for Dracul to follow him.

"Fairy tales?" Dracul repeated. "Like what, Swan Lake? Sleeping Beauty?"

"Not quite," Ivor replied politely. "Those are Russian ballets based on German stories. Mama's favorite was the story of the Firebird and Princess Vasilisa. I used to have nightmares about being caught snooping around Baba Yaga's hut and made to do impossible things for her."

The two soon found themselves entering what was probably the student lounge. All the furniture was covered in dust, giving the room a solemn, almost oppressive feeling. The light that filtered weakly in through the boarded windows threw pillars of illuminated dust drifting through the air.

A cold tingle ran down Dracul's spine, the sensation he associated with a good horror film or a haunted location. Ivor then stopped and turned to face him with a serious expression.

"Uh…Ivor, is something wrong?" he questioned with an unsure tone.

"Not with me, comrade," Ivor replied. "But there is much wrong in your life, isn't there?"

"Well, I…uh…" the caped student began, even more unsure now.

"I've seen how the students, even our comrades, treat you. Thinly-veiled contempt, continuous ridicule, deliberately leaving you out…they don't even have the decency to use your true name. Frankly, it's unforgivable."

"W-what are you getting at?" Dracul asked.

"I can help you prove your true worth," Ivor answered. "Show all of them the true might of the Vampire King. All you have to do is ask."

"This better not cost me my soul or something…" he muttered.

Ivor chuckled. "Now that's one thing I can't do. There's no cost, you won't owe me anything; just say that you want the power."

He knew this was suspicious at best, but Ivor seemed to genuinely understand his feelings. The students at the card shop enjoying his suffering, his own helplessness and anger…and the sense that his dormmates only barely tolerated him. He couldn't deny it: He wanted payback and didn't care how.

"I want the power."

Ivor reached out his hand with a satisfied smile. The moment Dracul accepted it, a burst of black light filled the room, and he screamed like a banshee.

* * *

 _ **Oh no! Dracul's been forced over to the Dark Side! What's Darth Romanov got in store for our heroes? (Sorry, been on a Star Wars kick lately.) Anyways… hope you keep reading and hope we find more time to keep updating. (Damn you, Real Life!)**_

 **Translations** :

" **It's pure dead hot... e'en fur taps aff... efter Ah keel ower, someain drag mah corpse tae th' AC**." - "It's pure dead hot... even for taps aff... after I keel over, someone drag my corpse to the AC."

" **Pure dead** " - dead means very, commonly combined with pure for extra emphasis

" **taps aff** " - tops off, means "it's a hot day"

" **verschlimmbessert deine gesundheit**." - "aggravates your health."

" **Prosti** " - "Sorry"

 **The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa** \- a story about a prince who essentially tricks his way into marrying the titular princess, with some help from his horse.

 **Baba Yaga** \- a supernatural being (her name roughly means "granny witch") who flies around in a mortar and usually takes the form of an old lady. Her house can move on its own using a pair of chicken legs.


	15. Initial Order Arc: Embracing Darkness I

_**Hello World! What, you thought you'd have to wait months for the next chapter? Well you thought wrong as we bring you the next chapter on our insane story. We'd also like to take this time to once again thank our beta reader, Eneko95, for her hardwork and dedication to helping us out.**_

 _ **Now sit back, relax, and enjoy**_

 _ **Chapter 15**_

 _ **Initial Order Arc:**_

 _ **Embracing Darkness, Part I**_

* * *

 _ **Early**_ _ **Evening**_

 _ **Forest**_

The sun was setting, and Dracul's two minions had looked almost everywhere they could think of to find their friend. He hadn't been in any of their usual "secret spots" like the mysterious cave near the beach or the one at the volcano. Their last hope was the abandoned dorm; its distance from the main campus made it a perfect place to stage rituals.

"D-do you really think he's here?"

"It's the only place left to look."

"Aside from back at the dorm. We could go look there."

"Stop whining. We'll look here and if he isn't here, then we can go check the dorm."

"Fine…"

The two shook in their shoes as they approached the entrance. Horror films often took place in abandoned buildings for a reason, and their love for the genre didn't extend far past the silver screen.

Before they could get further, a large booming noise emerged, causing the two to flinch and turn their heads.

At first, they saw nothing but dust swirling through what little light still crept through the windows. A flurry of movement swung down from the rafters, causing the two to scream out in shock, rooted in place. When the screaming died down, they realized that what swung down at them was their Master Dracul.

"Boss! We've finally found you!"

"Are you OK? You can't just disappear like that without even…"

The caped student slowly turned around, making the two of them look in shock. Their friend's appearance had changed completely as he now had pale skin that matched his white hair.

But his complexion was not the only change. His school uniform had grown noticeably darker, being closer to black than the usual Obelisk Blue, with a pure white vest and button up shirt. His school jacket seemed to have been replaced with a dark blue smoking jacket, though his usual cape remained. He'd also gained a gold necklace with a blood-red jewel that practically radiated malicious power.

"Oh I am more than okay, my **elvtárs**. I have ascended, become the man I was always meant to be. Well, I say 'man'…"

"Boss, what are you talking about?"

Dracul grinned; it could've been the lighting, but the students swore he had fangs in place of his regular teeth. "How do I put this…? Tonight, through a deal with a higher power, I truly became the Vampire King."

The students exchanged nervous looks. The one who'd been a zombie eventually broke the silence.

"L-look, man, I know today could've been a lot better for us, but m-maybe this isn't the best way to deal with what happened."

"Prof. Jorge's worried about you, too. He's the only person who can-"

Dracul cut them off with a dramatic cape flip and death glare, making the two flinch.

"Et tu, Brute? I expected better from you, yet here you are sounding like all the rest of our detractors."

"So? How's everyone else giving us crap affect our enjoyment?"

"C-come on, let's go back t-to the dorms."

"You two _never_ took this seriously!" Dracul roared.

"You take this _too_ seriously!"

The caped student let out a demonic hiss, and something invisible grabbed their shoulders. Whatever it was then pushed them forward, forcing them to look directly at Dracul.

"Fortunately for our relationship, I believe in second chances. You gentlemen will be the first of my true servants; prove your dedication and I will reward you. Try to relax, and look deep into my eyes…"

* * *

 _ **Elsewhere in the forest…**_

"Anyone think to bring a torch?" Barclay asked as the light continued to fade away. They had left their backpacks at their respective dorms before heading out to look for their new acquaintance, but weren't sure how much longer they could search before they had to go back.

"No, but we have our phones," Nick remarked, holding his phone out with the flashlight on.

"Are we even sure they're still out here?" Erhard inquired while scratching his head.

"I spoke with someone from their dorm; apparently the three of them and some members of their fan club come to places like this at night," Takashi responded.

"H-h-how can they? It's s-s-so spooky…" Atsuko shuddered and held on to Takashi's arm.

"If they're anywhere out here, they'd be at the abandoned dorm," Barclay replied.

"Abandoned dorm?" Sera repeated.

"Someone told me they heard that dorm was haunted," Erhard commented.

"HAUNTED?!" the petite girl yelled out, shaking harder than before as she was trying desperately not to faint.

"I'm going back. Let me know if you find them," Sera said abruptly, turning around and speed-walking back down the path.

"Hold on now," said Takashi, grabbing Sera's collar to keep her from leaving. "We can't give up, even if this place is haunted."

"He's right, Dracul's missing and we need to find him," Nick added.

"Besides, I doubt the place is actually haunted," Barclay said. "It's just one of those rumors that get started by bored students. Every school's got stories like that."

"I thought everyone from the UK believed in ghosts?" Erhard asked.

"In my experience, most of us do, but we play up local myths and legends for the tourists." Barclay waved a hand dismissively. "Three things that get people to spend money quick are booze, ancient locations, and haunted-house tours. Sometimes all three at once!"

"I don't care!" Sera complained. "Be a nonbeliever all you want! I'm not gonna risk getting a ghost upset with me!"

"Hey!" someone in the distance yelled. Some of the group turned around to see Laura running towards them, phone out and backpack still in tow. It took her a few minutes to catch up to them, and then a few more to catch her breath.

"Hah… Whoo… hi, guys. You just left me outside the card shop, what was up with that? I thought you were gonna come back," said Laura, panting slightly.

Their only response was silence and a disapproving stare.

"Oh come on, you guys can't really be mad at me. I mean I make fun of him all the time, how is this different?"

"This time _was_ different, Laura," Sera replied after Takashi let her go. "There's a difference between the name calling you usually do and the total humiliation that those Obelisk jerks did."

"You laughing along with the crowd validated what they were doing and probably encouraged them to boot. It's really amazing how readily people will humiliate anyone they can call 'Other' to get their peers' approval," said Barclay.

"You sound like a psychologist," Erhard said to Barclay.

"The dangers of having one as a parent, I suppose." Barclay shrugged.

"At the risk of sounding cliché, he's actually a decent guy if you get to know him," Nick added. "And before you bring up the mall championship, just because he scared you in front of an audience doesn't mean we can't treat him with respect."

"I'm sure he didn't mean to cause you any real harm, did he?" said Atsuko.

Before Laura could say anything, the air was split by more screams. Nick's and Barclay's hands glowed faintly, and they hid them inside their pockets while the others looked in the direction of the screaming.

"It sounded like it came from up ahead," said Erhard, pointing down the path.

"That's definitely the old abandoned dorm," Barclay said. "Those **eejits** better just be watching some horror movies."

All of them, including Laura, ran ahead to the dorm at full speed. Sera and Atsuko were the only ones who seemed fazed by it; they held on to each other and were visibly shaking.

"Well, at least we know why they like it." Nick chuckled nervously.

"It's certainly… exotic," Takashi added with a gulp.

"So, um, who's going first?" asked Atsuko.

"No one is going in this place alone, I can tell you that. We're sticking together," Barclay replied. "But not on top of each other-God knows how long this place's been empty, we don't want the floor breaking underneath us."

"That's what you're worried about? The structural integrity?" Sera asked.

"I'm worried about one of us getting hurt," Barclay replied calmly.

"So…?" Erhard prompted.

"Takashi goes first. If the floors can support him, then the rest of us are fine."

The student in question nodded uneasily.

"I'll go next, then the girls, and then Nick and Erhard can bring up the rear," he continued. "Any complaints?"

"Yes!" both Sera and Atsuko cried.

Barclay pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Maybe it would be better if they stayed out here. I mean it's not exactly a good idea to have them screaming if something happens," Nick commented.

"Agreed," Erhard remarked with a nod.

"Fine." Barclay sighed. "Then I guess you two can stay outside and stand watch."

"Are you sure about that?" Takashi asked.

"The last thing we want is to search the place only to find out they left. This way, the girls can give us a shout if they see anyone."

Takashi nodded. "I see your point."

"Hello?! What about me?" Laura remarked with irritation.

They glared back at Laura as Nick walked towards her and stopped right in front of her.

"Laura, of course we care about you, you're one of our closest friends," he began. "But I can't overlook how heartless you were today. We're here to make Dracul feel better, and having you with us would do the exact opposite."

That single statement made Laura gasp in horror, looking at the faces of each of her friends. She hoped that some of them would defend her, but all they did was look away, even her own roommate.

"Come on, boys, we better head in."

With that, Nick and the other boys began walking.

* * *

 _ **Abandoned Dorm**_

"You sure you weren't too hard on Laura?" Barclay asked after they had gotten well away from the door and entered what looked to have once been the dorm's common room.

It was a large open room with several hallways leading off of it. High windows let in what little light still remained outside, and what little light could make it past the moth-eaten curtains and years of dust. A threadbare carpet covered the floor from wall to wall and a few fragments of what had probably been furniture once lay scattered across the room.

"Calling her heartless did seem a bit much," Erhard agreed.

"Well, maybe I was, but she has to realize that having a grudge against someone is no excuse not to be disrespectful to them, especially when they're trying to reach out," Nick remarked with a sigh of frustration. "That's how I see it, anyway."

"I agree. She's a good person, but how she treated Dracul was unacceptable and frankly dishonorable," Takashi added.

Conversation and forward movement ceased when the group heard creaking echoing down one of the halls. They waited, straining their eyes in the growing darkness for any sign of the source.

"We should probably check out that sound," Erhard whispered, his voice slightly louder than anticipated, yet at the same time muffled by all the dust.

"If those **bastarts** are just hiding down the **loaby** to try and scare us, then I hope they're prepared to get a boot up their arses."

Nick swallowed. He didn't usually believe in things like ghosts and cryptids, but after seeing his Duel Spirit he knew they were at least a possibility.

They soon found themselves near what they figured had been a lounge area. Unlike the other rooms, there were lit candles in strategic places on the walls for extra light. A large coffin took up the middle of the room.

"Looks like a film set in here…" Erhard muttered as the group slowly moved into the room.

"How long do you suppose they've been working on this?" Takashi asked.

"I'm more concerned about the coffin," said Barclay.

None of them noticed the two figures slowly approaching them from behind.

* * *

 _ **Outside**_

Back outside, the trio of girls were still standing near a tree. Sera and Atsuko were trying to keep their composure, while Laura paced in front of them, occasionally casting a worried glance at the dorm.

"Would. You. Stop. Pacing!" Sera snapped. "It's not helping!"

"I'm pacing because something about that place feels wrong," Laura snapped back.

"Like your attitude earlier?" Sera asked.

"Like the boys are in trouble," Laura replied.

"Sure."

"Okay, like what the hell?" Laura demanded. "Why have you been totally not backing me up lately?"

"Maybe because you've started acting like a total-"

"STOP IT!" Atsuko shouted.

The two roommates stopped immediately, looking over to where their friend was. While she was still shaking with fear, there were tears running down her face.

"We can't keep arguing about this. Especially if they really are in danger."

Before either of them could reply, they all heard screaming from the building. Immediately realizing that it was the boys, they all ran without hesitation into the dorm, worried about their safety.

Soon enough, they reached the same lounge the boys had seen, only with an overtly menacing feel to it. What looked like skeletal hands protruded from the walls with torches in their grips. The torches barely cast any light into the center of the room despite their strategic placements.

What the girls _could_ see was the unconscious boys, chained to the back wall like prisoners.

"What do we do?" Sera asked. "We don't know what happened to them and there's too many of them for us to carry back to the main campus."

"Just Takashi alone would be too much for us…"

"You won't have to worry about going back," a voice remarked pleasantly.

The trio did a rapid double-take as the voice's owner approached.

"Yes… You will be here serving our glorious master," a second voice declared.

A second figure seemingly materialized behind the first. Atsuko gripped Laura's hand tightly as the figures approached. Soon the torchlight illuminated their faces; they were Dracul's two friends the group had been looking for.

" _Not cool_ , guys," said Sera, glaring at them. "You almost gave us heart attacks."

"Good to see you're OK otherwise." Laura sighed.

"Wh-where's Dracul?" Atsuko asked, taking large gulps of air and trying to calm her racing heart.

From the center of the room, there was a loud creaking. Something was slowly opening on its own, sending dust and even a little smoke billowing across the floor. When their eyes adjusted, they realized with a shiver that the mysterious thing was a large coffin.

A pale young man wearing a cape stepped out of the coffin. An ominous glow surrounded him as he approached the girls; if it hadn't been for the hair, they would have thought he was a completely different person.

"Good evening, ladies. Welcome to my castle," he said, smiling pleasantly. Unfortunately the sharp teeth ruined his genteel image.

"Dracul, is-is that you?" Atsuko stuttered.

"Hey there, Drogo. Love what you've done with this place," said Laura with her usual attitude. "That corpse look really doesn't work for you, though."

"Of course, you always have to be the clever one, don't you?" he replied. Something about the way he said it made Laura even more nervous, as if he were implying a threat.

"Well… You seem to be feeling much better," Sera said. "That's great. We'll… We'll just wake the boys up and go, let you guys go back to… club activities?"

"But you've only just arrived. Are you sure you don't want to join us?" Dracul asked.

"I know I am, _Eugene_ ," Laura answered.

His expression soured for a brief moment before settling into a more neutral one. "I see… what a shame. I can't think of anyone better suited to being my queen. After all, you've known my strength from the beginning. Haven't you, Laura? Ever since that day at the mall, you've known deep in your soul that I deserve to be here. Above the crowd, commanding forces beyond imagination… and you can't deny you want it, too."

"Okay, first: You're totally wrong about what I know and want. Second, what the hell are you even king of? And third, if you're going to scare us at least be less cliché about it."

"I should have known better than to reason with you," Dracul snapped, eyes glowing red. "You scoff at our passion, mistreat us, belittle us…" He flung his cape over his shoulders, revealing both his new outfit and-to Laura's surprise-his duel disk. "But no longer! I have the power to get revenge for every insult you mortals ever dealt me! I can make you suffer as I have, and when you fully understand my pain I'll make you my greatest minion!"

Laura clenched her fists tightly. She had never liked Dracul's gimmick even before the mall tournament, but she didn't see any other way to get out of there.

"Fine," she retorted, taking off her backpack and retrieving her duel disk. "If a duel's the only way to get through that thick skull of yours, then let's go!"

* * *

 _ **Vengeance duel away! Next chapter will be our... second revenge duel? Wonder if that's going to be a thing we do a lot, revenge duels. I don't think so, that would get boring and predictable. But there will be a duel and it will be as hard fought as we could manage! Please look forward to that. And more thanks to our beta down here too (is it clear we appreciate her work? I don't know, we could probably thank her more)**_

 **Translations** :

 **elvtárs** \- "comrades"

 **eejits** \- "idiots"

 **bastarts** \- "bastards"

 **loaby** \- "hallway, lobby, passageway"


	16. Initial Order Arc: Embracing Darkness II

_**Once again, we'd like to apologize for the wait; as usual, real life can be crazy busy. Thank you all for your patience and thanks to Eneko95 for helping to polish up our grammar (beta readers are great). Anyways, enough with the apologies and such, right? It's time to duel!**_

 _ **Chapter 16 Initial Arc:**_

 _ **Embracing Darkness part II**_

As soon as Laura attached her duel disk to her arm, it started beeping and the hologram dome formed around her, Dracul, and the other two girls. Everyone put their visors on, not exactly surprised to see a haunted house theme pop up; they were practically in one already.

While Sera and Atsuko were hugging each other in fear, Laura stared down Dracul as she summoned up her digi-construct. Dracul did the same with an amused smile; he clearly expected a repeat performance.

"Let's duel!" both of them yelled out as they drew their hand.

 **Dracul** \- 8000 LP

 **Laura** \- 8000 LP

* * *

"As I said when we met; ladies first," said Dracul with a gracious nod.

"I'll set this monster in defense mode, play another facedown card, and end my turn."

The cards appeared in front of her as she prepared for what Dracul was going to do.

"Come now, don't be shy," Dracul mocked as he drew a card. "I rest three face down cards on the field and conjure up **Vampire Sorcerer** (4/1500/1500) in attack mode!"

A wooden coffin burst out of the ground and opened, revealing a few shining red lights. The rest of the monster soon emerged; an androgynous humanoid with pale purple skin, sickly green hair, and a classic witch's robe and pointy hat decorated with deep red jewels. The bat-winged staff in its right hand had a similar jewel, held in place by five small silver fangs.

"Ask and ye shall receive. I activate **Bottomless Trap Hole**!" Laura countered. "By the way, you have to banish your wizard dude, not just destroy it."

A large hole emerged on Dracul's side of the field right under his newest monster. When it was opened, shadow-like appendages shot up and grabbed his monster, dragging it into the hole as it struggled to break free. Once it entered, the hole closed up completely.

Dracul then grabbed the card from its spot and instead of sending it to the graveyard, he placed it inside his deck case due to the trap's effect.

"Now **Naturia Rock's** (3/1200/1200) effect activates," she continued. "Whenever a trap is activated, I can discard the top card of my deck to Special Summon it."

A large boulder with comically short arms and legs shot up from the ground and landed with a thud and cheerful whistle. The white flower growing on top of its head waved gently in a nonexistent breeze, and its red eyes had a determined look.

"Wonderful!" Dracul laughed as he ended his turn.

"Alright, I draw!" the pale girl remarked as she drew her first card, seeing it before playing. "Now from my hand, I summon Naturia Butterfly (3/900/1200) in attack mode!"

A sudden bright light from above blinded most of the audience (and Dracul), though it only lasted for a few minutes as the monster slowly descended down.

A tiny, pink insect fluttered down on semi-transparent pink wings. Six green legs twirled about to give the impression of dancing and its large green eyes had a somewhat dreamy look to them. The proboscis twitched a little as if it was trying to communicate a smile or some other such expression impossible for the creature.

"Now that I have a Tuner monster on the field, you know what that means!"

Her butterfly and rock shot upward, the former turning into three rings of light that surrounded the latter.

"I tune together my level 3 Naturia Rock and level 3 Naturia Butterfly to Synchro Summon **Naturia Barkion** (6/2500/1800) in attack mode!"

The light exploded into a large column, and moments later, a majestic white Chinese dragon flew down from the ceiling. It had two thin white horns on its head, four short limbs ending in taloned 'hands', and pieces of tree bark running down the length of its back like scales. Patches of vibrant green moss decorated its body.

Dracul smiled. "Fantastic. Half the fun of dueling is putting on a show, and your style's coming through much more clearly now."

"Oh I'm not done yet! Barkion, attack his life points directly, **Wood Hammer**!"

The dragon roared and curled itself into a loop before swinging its tail down at Dracul's head.

Rather than looking concerned, Dracul grinned wickedly. A dark blue barrier that rippled like water appeared above him, and Barkion's tail bounced off it.

"What the hell?"

" **Drowning Mirror Force** ," Dracul replied as his card revealed itself. "When you declared a direct attack, this card automatically activated, and now you have to shuffle all attack mode monsters you control back into your deck."

"Sneaky," said Laura. "However, your trap card in turn triggers Barkion's effect. By banishing two cards from my graveyard, I can negate and destroy any traps you activate."

Laura ejected her Naturia Rock and her Bottomless Trap Hole, adding them to her deck case.

Barkion launched two orbs of light at the mirror, shattering it. As the pieces fell and vanished, Barkion swung its tail directly at Dracul like nothing had happened.

 **Dracul** \- (8000 - 5500) LP

 **Laura** \- 8000 LP

* * *

Instead of flinching, Dracul flung his cap onto his shoulders in a dramatic fashion, grinning like a madman. "Wahaha! Absolutely incredible!"

"Are-are you enjoying this?" Laura questioned, ending her turn.

"Of course!" Dracul replied as he drew a card. "This is shaping up to be the duel I was hoping for last time!"

He then placed a monster card in defense mode before ending his turn.

"H-he's acting strangely, isn't he?" Atsuko muttered.

"He always acts str…" Sera trailed off in the middle of her thought. "Wait… yes, you're right. He's acting strangely in a different way…"

"It's different though… He's not doing it with a kind heart."

The two couldn't help but feel like something was wrong, but could only watch as the two saw Laura draw her next card.

"Alright, to continue I place a card face down on the field, then activate the spell Mind Control. Now I can take control of your defense monster, but I can't attack with it or sacrifice it. Kind of a raw deal if you ask me."

She moved her cards to her other hand and extended her left. Marionette strings emerged from each of her fingers, connecting to Dracul's card. Then she closed her left hand in a fist, and the card began to move to her side of the field.

"Oh that won't do! I activate the trap **Dark Spirit Art - Greed**!" A ritual circle with a kanji in the center appeared below Dracul's monster; the light purple flames on the outside flared up and broke the strings. "I can tribute a Dark-type monster to both negate your spell and draw two new cards, unless you reveal a spell card in your hand."

"Thanks for telling me how to foil your evil plan, Draco. I have one spell in my hand, **Miracle Synchro Fusion**." She showed him the card in question.

Dracul made a disgruntled noise and put the facedown monster in his graveyard. "I had to tribute it anyway."

"Then I guess I'll flip summon my **Naturia Cherries** (1/200/200) in attack mode." Laura sighed, confused by Dracul's motives. "And I'll attack you directly. Barkion, Wood Hammer!"

Once again the dragon flipped through the air and smacked Dracul dead-on with its tail, the force sending him back a few feet.

"Cherries! **Pit Shot**!"

The twins spat seeds at their target like a machine gun.

Both attacks hit their mark, knocking back Laura's opponent a few feet.

 **Dracul** \- (5500 - 2800) LP

 **Laura** \- (8000) LP

* * *

The caped duelist struggled to get up as he was shaking from the attacks he endured. Though instead of showing frustration, he laughed manically once more..

"You're starting to weird me out more than usual…" Laura muttered with a bit of concern.

"Oh believe me, I've haven't begun to fight! Now stand back and watch your future master go!" Dracul yelled out as he drew his card. "I start by activating the effect of Vampire Sorcerer: By banishing him from my graveyard this turn, I can normal summon a level five or higher Vampire monster without a sacrifice."

A eerie shadow surrounded Dracul as the card ejected from his grave, allowing him to grab it and place it into his deck case.

"Now come forth my solider of darkness, **Shadow Vampire** (5/2000/0) in attack mode!" Another, darker coffin broke through the ground onto the Obelisk's side of the field, slowly opening itself and letting out a black mist.

From the coffin emerged a translucent figure. It wore medieval armor with a glowing red cross on the breastplate. It had massive, spiked shoulder guards, a diamond shaped shield on one arm and a large, oddly shaped sword in the other hand. The overall appearance of the monster was hard to properly make out in the lighting and its translucency.

"Then I activate my facedown card, **Vampire Shift**! Because I don't have a field spell active, I can now bring out my special one from my deck, **Vampire Kingdom**!"

"Hahaha, no. I trigger Barkion's effect once again, banishing two more cards from my grave to negate your card."

This time, Laura took out her Naturia Cherries and Mind Control and added the deck case.

Barkion's body began to glow as it released two more orbs from itself and launched it right at the card.

In seconds, it shattered into digital pieces.

Dracul sighed. "At least look upon your future kingdom before rejecting it."

"You act like you can still win this," Laura replied, doing her best to suppress a shudder.

"There's still plenty of time for a plot twist." Dracul smiled. "Now, Shadow's effect activates from being normal summoned, and I can Special Summon a Vampire from my hand or deck. Say hello to **Vampire Duke** (5/2000/0) in attack mode!"

Similar to Shadow Vampire, a smaller wooden coffin came up from the ground out of the monster's shadow, opening and letting out white mist onto the field.

A much more solid looking monster climbed out of the second coffin. It looked very much like the duelist who summoned it: black hair slicked back, pale skin, wearing a red vest, black slacks, a white shirt and a high collared black cape.

"And the effects haven't ended yet!" Dracul said. "Duke has his own effect that activates whenever he's Special Summoned: I can declare one card type from your deck and you have to send any one of them to the graveyard."

"Great…"

"Now! Say goodbye to one of your spells!"

Soon as he said that, the vampire hissed and shot a beam of purple light right at Laura's deck, making her flinch. Her duel disk beeped as she took out her deck and began looking through it.

She then found the spell to discard, revealing it to be her **Soul Charge** spell, causing a black shadowy hand to emerge from her graveyard and grab it before retreating.

"And the hits just keep coming," Dracul said. "With two level five monsters, I build the overlay network to Xyz Summon one of my dark lords! **Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon** (R5/2600/1700) in attack mode!"

Both monsters jumped upward as they transformed into spheres of light with a large galaxy appearing on the field. They then flew to the center, and a pale, black-winged angel with wild, equally black hair came out of the resulting eruption of light. Its eyes were glowing red, and its entire lower body looked like a mass of shadows.

"By using one of his Overlay units, I can target and destroy one of your face up cards," Dracul continued. "And I choose your Barkion!"

One of the orbs entered Adreus' clawed hand, combining with its own dark energy to create a nasty-looking dagger made from red-hot metal. Adreus flew upward with one beat of its massive wings and threw the knife directly into the center of Barkion's head.

The wood monster roared out in pain as cracks appeared all over its body, eventually causing it to explode.

All Laura could do was endure the shock-wave, covering herself from the blast.

"Due to the second effect of Shadow Vampire, I'm not able to use anyone, including Adreus, to attack. I shall have to end my turn."

"Oh no, Laura's not doing so good, is she?" Atsuko asked with worry. "I got a little lost with all those effects activating one after another…"

"Vampire decks are dangerous in the right hands," Sera replied. "But this is just a minor setback. Laura's got plenty of time to turn things around."

"You think so?"

"As long as she still has her life points and fighting spirit, absolutely."

Laura drew and looked at what she had available. Her next few moves would decide whether things swung back in her favor. _I can do this. Go big or go home, remember?_

"I'm not about to take that lying down! I activate my trap card, **Naturia Sacred Tree**!" she declared, revealing her facedown card.

A massive tree emerged from the ground, its pod-covered branches spreading out against the ceiling. "By sacrificing a plant-type monster I control, this allows me to Special Summon a level 4 or lower insect-type monster."

A vine came from the tree and wrapped around Naturia Cherries, which glowed softly as it merged with the vine. Suddenly, one of the pods started glowing as it grew bigger and detached from the branch.

"Say hello to an old friend, Naturia Butterfly in defense mode!"

When it hit the ground, the pod burst open, revealing a powerful light that made Dracul and his minions hiss. The monster that emerged from the pod expanded its wings to descend down gently before taking a defensive stance.

"To keep it company, I summon **Dandylion** (3/300/300) from my hand in attack mode."

A small, orange creature sprouted from the ground. It had leaves that looked like a bow tie, leaves for arms and a lion-like face surrounded by bright yellow petals.

"Now that I have a Tuner again, I tune Naturia Butterfly and Dandylion together in order to Synchro Summon another Naturia Barkion in attack mode! Also, Dandylion's effect lets me Special Summon two **Fluff Tokens** (1/0/0) on my field in defense mode whenever it's sent to the graveyard."

As before, both monsters came together in a burst of light, bringing out the same dragon that was on the field.

Twin balls of white fluff appeared on the field with an almost comical pop. They bounced in place on small brown stems; the only thing indicating that they were monsters were the small faces on one side of their bodies.

"I'm not done yet! From my hand, I activate the spell Miracle Synchro Fusion! Time for the king of the Naturia's to come and play, because now I fuse together the Naturia Barkion on the field with the one in my graveyard in order to bring out my strongest monster! **Naturia Gaiastrio** (10/3200/2100)!"

Both Synchro monsters appeared on the field as the two jumped upward, spiraling around one another until the two of them collided in a vortex.

A massive, lightly armored leonine monster emerged from the resulting light. Its body armor had a large black frame of some sort, with two crystalline structures on either side and small red decorations throughout. Its helmet, meanwhile, had horns that curved toward its mane of red petals rather than away. A tree grew out of its back, and bushes grew above each of its paws like wristbands. It fixed Dracul with a piercing blue stare.

"Now, Gaiastrio, attack his Adreus with **Life Roar**!"

The beast let out a powerful roar that reverberated across the entire area, focusing on the blackened angel in particular. Before long, Adreus exploded under the sonic onslaught, and the combined shockwaves knocked Dracul flat on his back.

 **Dracul** \- (2800 - 2200) LP

 **Laura** \- 8000 LP

* * *

"I'll end my turn with that."

Dracul managed to get back on his feet, simply dusting himself off as he glared back and snarled, revealing his fanged teeth.

 _Fangs? OK, something's really wrong here,_ Laura thought. _Not like I can do anything but keep dueling, though… ugh._

"Let's see what the next draw brings," he said. "Ah, perfect! I play the spell **Dark Hole**!"

A pitch-black vortex appeared above the field, and howling winds forced every monster available into the abyss. Even Gaiastrio couldn't keep itself stable for long against such an onslaught.

"Next, I play the spell **Book of Life** ," Dracul continued after the field was cleared. "I can target one Zombie in my graveyard and one monster in yours. My Vampire Duke and your Naturia Gaiastrio will do."

An emerald book phased into existence before Dracul. Its cover depicted two figures with canine heads facing a purple chalice holding what looked like the sun. A ruby-red eye with golden wings watched over the scene. Something else was written below the canine figures in hieroglyphs.

The book then snapped open, releasing two ghoulish purple spirits. One of them entered Dracul's graveyard and helped Vampire Duke out of a coffin; the other entered Laura's and pushed Gaiastrio somewhat roughly onto the field.

"As you might have guessed from the spirits' behavior, I special summon mine and remove yours from reality," Dracul finished. "Plus, Duke's effect kicks in again. This time, toss one of your traps."

Each spirit entered its respective monster's body. Duke seemed to solidify a little more. Gaiastrio, on the other hand, roared in pain as its body crumbled. Soon the gems on its armor exploded, reducing the mighty beast to a cloud of ash and sawdust.

Laura opened her deck case and placed both Gaiastrio and **Dimensional Prison** inside it.

"Now, Duke, feast on your enemy! Direct attack!"

The vampire smiled smugly and glided across the field. When he reached Laura, he gently tilted her head to one side, grabbed her shoulder for support, and bit down.

 **Dracul** \- 2200 LP

 **Laura** \- (8000 - 6000) LP

* * *

After the monster left, Laura touched the side of her neck with a wince. She knew it was all just highly-advanced hologram technology, but those fangs had certainly felt real. She didn't feel as awake, either, but shrugged it off and drew her next card anyway.

"This is bad," her roommate remarked with a worried tone.

"Why?" Atsuko asked.

"That monster he banished was her best card in her whole deck. If he can manage to regain his momentum, she may not last much longer." Her friend looked on and prayed that she could keep it together.

"I activate the Equip spell **Mark of the Rose** and place it on your Vampire Duke," Laura said. "This allows me to take control of it for one turn at the cost of banishing a plant monster."

Her graveyard slot ejected her Dandylion, allowing her to grab it and add it to her deck case, bringing the number up to eight cards in total.

She extended her hand; an orb of light with a stylized rose in the center formed in front of it, then shot forward and hit Vampire Duke square on the mouth.

"Ever get reminded of a song when you only know some of the words?" asked Atsuko. "Because that just happened to me."

"What song?" asked Sera as the card forced Vampire Duke to Laura's side of the field.

"It's, uh…it's by some eighties band, I'll tell you later."

"And now I use him to attack you directly! You can dish it out, let's see if you can take it!" Laura shouted.

The monster swooped back across the field, grabbed Dracul somewhat roughly, and bit just above the collarbone. Dracul flinched briefly, but then relaxed into it with a faint smile.

All three girls cringed.

 **Dracul** \- (2200 - 200) LP

 **Laura** \- (6000) LP

* * *

"And that's the end of my turn, so you get your monster back," Laura said.

The mark disappeared, and Vampire Duke seemed to wake up as he flew back to his master's side.

Dracul drew, looking at his hand to see what options he had.

He saw a chance to change the pace and took the risk.

"I activate the spell **Allure of Darkness** ," Dracul said. "It allows me to draw two cards and then I have to banish a dark monster from my hand or else send my hand to the graveyard."

A swirling mist of darkness began emanating from Dracul's deck as he drew his cards and, after surveying the results of his draw, revealed his **Goblin Zombie** (4/1100/1050) as he added it to his deck case.

"Next, I set one card face down and sacrifice Vampire Duke to summon **Vampire Lord** (5/2000/1500) in attack mode!"

Vampire Duke smirked, then vanished in a swarm of bats which obscured Dracul's side of the field. Once the bats disappeared, the monster on Dracul's side had changed, though in some ways it was the same. It was a pale creature wearing a cloak and a suit. Though now the suit was purple or maroon in color and the cloak was blue and appeared to be held on by a giant, clawed hand. The monster also had pale blue-green hair and piercing yellow eyes.

"Now attack her directly!" Dracul shouted. " **Hypnotic Eyes**!"

The monster leered at Laura and behind it, a larger pair of its eyes seemed to appear and the air around it seemed to shimmer and ripple out towards her. It made her feel uncomfortable and like her strength was draining rapidly out of her. Her legs began to shake until they gave out beneath her and she slumped to the ground.

 **Dracul** \- (200)

 **Laura** \- (6000 - 4000)

* * *

"And, since Vampire Lord inflicted battle damage, I can declare one card type and you have to send it to your graveyard. This time I choose Monster." The monster, unlike its other counterparts, released a shadow that flew on the ground and entered her duel-disk. Soon enough, it released the deck from its spot and Laura grabbed it to search, picking her **Glow-Up Bulb** (1/0/0) to send to the grave. Dracul smiled with his same devilish grin and ended his turn.

Laura drew her card and decided to try with what she had.

"I place one card face down, then I activate the effect of Glow-Up Bulb," Laura said. "By sending the top card of my deck to the grave I can Special Summon it to the field in defense mode."

From the ground on her side of the field, a small flower appeared before it shot upward, revealing a large seed pod with one large eye in the middle of it and roots below it.

"Next, I activate the effect of Naturia Sacred Tree again. By sending Glow-up Bulb back to the grave I can special summon **Naturia Dragonfly** (4/1200/400) from my deck in attack mode!"

A small, red bodied insect flitted onto the field. It had large, blue eyes and a single brown antenna that made its head look like a cherry. The head was separated from by body by a green collar of leaves, and a blur of pink indicated the creature's two pairs of wings beating so fast that they created a constant, dull buzz. The thorax was made entirely of a long brown twig, ending in a leaf.

"Naturia Dragonfly has a pretty neat quirk; for every Naturia monster in my graveyard it gains an additional 200 attack points. I've lost four during this duel, so you do the math."

Four balls of light, each representing one of her fallen Naturia monsters, emerged from her graveyard and went into Dragonfly.

Dragonfly (1200 - 2000)

"That only ties it with my Vampire Lord," Dracul said. "The most you'll do is destroy both of our monsters."

Laura shook her head. "Normally, you'd be right. However! Dragonfly's effect lets it survive any attacks from monsters with 2000 or more attack points, which means your vampire is about to take a dirt nap! Take it down, little guy!"

Dragonfly buzzed loudly as it flew upward only to change course and head straight for Vampire Lord. Vampire Lord hissed and jumped up to meet the bug halfway. Their collision caused a small cloud of dust, but when it cleared, the vampire was gone.

Dracul then drew his next card and swore quietly. "I pass."

Laura drew her card, seeing it to be something that could help bring some of her cards that were in her deck case.

"I activate the spell **Burial from a Different Dimension** ," she said. "This lets me select three of my banished monsters and put them back into my graveyard."

Her deck case glowed, allowing her to open it and look at the cards she had put there. After a few seconds, she chose to put back her Naturia Barkion, Naturia Gaiastrio, and Dandylion.

"And since two of them were Naturia monsters, Dragonfly now has 2400 attack points." Laura continued as two more orbs of light entered its body.

Dragonfly (2000 - 2400)

"Now attack him directly with **Swift Stream**!"

The insect started buzzing around as energy charged around it, moving faster than the eye could see as it dashed forward in an attempt to hit its target.

"I activate my second Drowning Mirror Force," Dracul countered.

His facedown trap revealed itself, creating another barrier that pushed the attack back across the field.

"I use Naturia Tree's effect to send Dragonfly to the grave to Special Summon **Naturia Marron** (4/1200/700) in defense mode."

Before the wave could hit, a vine came from the tree and wrapped around her Dandylion and absorbing it into its vines once again. This time, a large spiky seed fell from the tree and cracked opened, revealing her newest monster.

A tiny brown creature with big blue eyes appeared on the field. However, what, at first glance, appeared to be fur was actually more like cactus thorns. Countless, needle sharp slivers covered its body.

"And, since Marron's in defense mode, your trap has no effect."

Dracul clenched his fists, digging his nails into his palms tightly enough to draw blood, though no one else noticed.

"Now I activate Marron's effect, allowing me to pick two Naturia monsters from the grave and add them back to my deck. Then, I can draw a new card."

The monster started shaking, creating a small cloud of dust that rested on top of Laura's duel disk. It ejected two cards from her graveyard; Naturia Gaiastrio and one of her Barkions, both of which she then added to her extra deck.

She drew her next card and was surprised to see what it was.

"Looks like my luck is changing: I summon a second Marron, which means I can activate its effect once again."

Like its duplicate, the new Marron shook and released the same dust onto Laura, causing two more cards to be ejected from her grave. This time, it was both her copies of her Dragonfly.

She then grabbed them and inserted them back into her deck, causing it to shuffle again as she drew again.

"Now, it's time to take things to the next level! I use both of my level 3 Marrons to build the overlay network and Xyz Summon **Meliae of the Trees** (R3/1700/900) in attack mode!"

Both monsters jumped up and changed into light as a galaxy emerged underneath them, causing the lights to enter the center. A powerful burst of light exploded as the new monster emerged.

At first glance, the three burs appeared to have been replaced by a lump of sod. Then it moved, and the sod was revealed to be the creature's hair. Its body appeared to be that of a young girl with cream colored skin, solid brown eyes and legs that ended as roots. It wore a green dress, pink bracelets, a gem on its forehead surrounded by pink-purple lotus leaves and a blue gemmed anklet.

"Then, by using one of its overlay units, I can target one plant monster in my graveyard and Special Summon it in defense mode," Laura continued. "Welcome back, Dandylion."

The small girl nodded as one of the orbs spinning around her entered her body.

She then created an orb of light, which she then shot into the ground next to her. In a matter of moments, the monster sprouted again in a defensive stance.

"That's it for me."

Dracul glared as he drew his next card, seeing that it was something that could help him.

"Well played. Unfortunately, Meliae won't be around for the final act. I summon **Mezuki** (4/1700/800) in attack mode!"

A large, muscular creature burst onto the field. It looked like the Minotaur, except with a horse's head, legs, and tail in place of a bull's. Gold and steel bracers decorated its thick arms, and it wore two entire animal skins around its waist. It snorted angrily, spinning its vicious greataxe in its hands.

"Wow, even when it seemed like he was done, he managed to come back!" Atsuko remarked in amazement.

"Agreed, let's just hope Laura can keep up the defensive," Sera added, biting her lip slightly.

"Now, time to get rid of that pesky waste! Mezuki, attack her Meliae with **Death Chop**!"

The horse-like beast charged forward and raised his axe, charging it with dark energy before he attempted to slice the wood nymph.

"I activate my trap, Dimensional Prison! Now your monster takes a one-way trip!"

The card revealed itself, releasing what looked like a tear within the space in front of Meliae, causing the beast to roar out in shock as it entered it and disappeared.

Dracul ended his turn in a grunt as he sent his monster to his deck case. In the shadows, Ivor looked on and realized that his puppet was doomed. He tightened his large hand in rage but stopped as he entered into the darker part of the dorm, leaving his minion to his fate.

"I'm ending this duel now!" Laura shouted. "Meliae, attack him directly with **Petal Storm**!"

The monster yelled its battle cry and flew upward, spinning and shooting energy petals forward. Dracul once again found himself flat on his back and surrounded by smoke.

 **Dracul** \- (200 - 0) LP

 **Laura** \- 4000 LP

* * *

The dome powered down along with everyone's visors, allowing Sera and Atsuko to run up and hug Laura. "Way to go!" the darker-skinned girl cheered.

While they cheered, the chains that bound their friends to the crosses disappeared, allowing them to fall to the ground.

They slowly started to wake up from their induced sleep.

The three girls stopped and ran towards them, checking to make sure each of them was alright.

"Ugh… Sera, is that you?" Nick groaned. "I feel like I got hit by a bus."

Barclay just groaned as he began propping himself up, while Takashi and Erhard remained silent.

"Takashi? Erhard? Are you two alright?" Atsuko pleaded as she looked them over.

"Are they still unconscious?" Laura asked. "What happened to you guys, anyway?"

Barclay shrugged. "Ambush, prob'ly. They must've been pretty strong if they got Takashi, too."

"W-wha?" Takashi muttered, his eyes fluttering open. "Got me what? Does someone have food?"

"Sorry, pal, that's not what we—"

Then they heard Dracul—Eugene, really—sobbing. "Every time…they never understand no matter what I say or who I duel…"

He stood up, surrounded by a black aura and red eyes streaming with tears.

"Fine! I don't need you! _Any of you!_ So what if you don't accept me?! So what if they never let me win?! _They're looking for a monster, so I'll GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT!_ "

At that, a strong gust of black wind burst from Eugene's aura. All of them were holding onto something as to not be thrown to the wall by the force of the wind. In that moment, Nick's and Barclay's hands began glowing, making everyone turn around at the light.

"Stay behind us!" Nick yelled out, moving forward. His mark glowed brighter, causing the winds to die down.

"The hell is happening?" Sera shouted.

"Now's not the time!" Barclay replied, following Nick.

" _He needs to be purified quickly, or he'll be lost,_ " a young woman's voice said.

The group looked around in a panic, wondering who and where the voice was coming from. Before they could ask, the duo moved forward and eventually came face-to-face with Eugene.

The two grabbed him by the shoulders, and he let out an unholy screech as a black demon-like figure emerged from him.

"Begone with ye!" Barclay shouted, placing his mark hand onto what he assumed was the figure's head. "Heh, I always wanted to say that!" Nick resisted the urge to facepalm, and instead focused on purifying whatever had been inside the Obelisk student.

Once the dark thing had gone, Eugene slumped to the floor like a rag doll. The jewel on his outfit shattered like glass, and his skin went back to a healthier shade of pale.

" **Hvad fanden?** " Laura shouted. Causing everyone to jump at the sudden increase in volume.

"Uh, Laura… it's OK, just calm-" Nick started.

" **Nej, alvorligt! Hvad fanden er der lige sket?!** "

"We can't understand what you're saying," Barclay sighed, rubbing his temples.

She stopped for a second, took a deep breath, then looked at them.

"What the hell was that?! Where did that voice come from, and how did you two do that glowing thing with your hands?!"

Nick and Barclay traded nervous looks.

"It was unlike anything I've ever seen…" Takashi added in awe.

"Have you always been able to do this?" Atsuko asked quietly, still cowering at the back.

Sera remained silent, just staring at the two.

"It's a long, weird story, and if you don't mind, I'd like to explain it once we're-" Barclay started.

SLAM!

The doors to the abandoned dorm flew open. Headmistress Ward, Professor Kanoa, Professor Romero and Professor Sadik stood in the entrance with varying expressions of shock.

"Oh, **mierda.** "

* * *

 _ **That ends another chapter of Dual Guardians and we hope you've enjoyed it. For those who have been with us, thank you so much for all of your support and we hope to continue it even further. We'll see you next time for Chapter 17.**_

 **Translations:**

 **Hvad fanden** \- "What the hell?"

 **Nej, alvorligt! Hvad fanden er der lige sket?** \- "No, seriously! What the hell has happened?"

 **Mierda** \- "shit"


	17. Initial Order Arc: Dark Reveal

_**Hello fellow readers, hope you've all been enjoying our story and getting ready for school if some of you are returning. So I, Leengard, have officially found a job so things are gonna be a bit slower than usual. Not only that, our Beta, Eneko95, is starting a new semester of college, which means a longer editing process. We will do our best to get the chapters ready for posting so we ask you continue to have patience with us. In any event, enjoy our newest chapter.**_

 _ **Chapter 17**_

_**Initial Order Arc:**_

 _ **Dark Reveal**_

* * *

 _ **Main Building**_

_**Classroom**_

Even though it was Saturday, Nick, Barclay, and their friends were in the middle of an empty classroom, armed with various cleaning supplies, plastic trash bags, and in one case a letter opener.

"If I never wipe down another **bunker** again it'll be too bloody soon," Barclay muttered.

"At least we just have one more room to clean for today," Nick said, propping himself up with a mop. He had paused to try and determine how much of the Academy they had left to clean.

"What's that saying…" Laura mused as she wiped some sweat from her brow. "'Time to lean, time to clean?'"

Barclay glanced under the desk he had been cleaning and found it covered in gum. " **Clarty** bastards…" he groaned. He got out the letter opener and began scraping the gum off. "I can never use this for anythin' else now. I hope they're happy."

"Stop complaining." Sera sighed. "It was either clean the main academy building or get kicked out."

After taking Eugene and Erhard (who had still been unconscious) to the nurse's office, the rest of the group had been taken to Headmistress Ward's office; the academy had strict rules on trespassing, especially after curfew and in certain locations.

Once the instructors had heard a mostly-accurate version of the incident and had a chance to talk amongst themselves, they decided not to expel the students and instead gave them cleaning duties for the next few weekends, plus detentions after class to be sure the message got across.

"We did get off easy," Takashi agreed, lifting an overflowing trash bag with one hand.

Atsuko said nothing, as she was focused on a particularly stubborn stain on the last in a row of desks.

"Right…" Barclay sighed. "That's it for the desks in here… I'll head to the next room and get started there."

"Ladder's in the hall," Takashi called after him.

"Feckin' heights," was the last thing they heard as the door closed behind him.

"I should probably go help…" Nick said, putting the mop in its bucket. "Better that someone is with him in case something happens."

With both of them gone, the others started bringing the chairs back into the classroom. They worked in silence until Laura finally spoke up.

"I still can't believe what they said about everything that happened."

"I knew they were hiding something, but I had no idea it was that big," Sera added.

"I can understand why they didn't say anything, but it still feels unreal," Takashi commented.

Atsuko simply nodded as she looked back at them, remembering what had transpired.

* * *

 _ **Earlier**_

_**Takashi's Room**_

 _The group were inside Takashi's room, with special permission from Kanoa, each of them sitting around the table with a soda in front of them._

 _Though instead of relaxing, most of them had their eyes focused on Barclay and Nick, both of whom were looking at the floor in shame._

 _After a minute of silence, Barclay attempted to break the ice. "Look-"_

 _"So when exactly were you planning to tell us you guys were some kind of wizards?" Laura interrupted scornfully._

 _"Laura, come on, that's a little harsh," said Takashi, receiving a glare in response._

 _"If you want an explanation, yer gonna have ta shut it," Barclay retorted._

 _"Not helping, Bar." Nick sighed, seeing both his friends silently glare at one another._

 _"Laura, let's at least give them a chance to explain before letting them have it," Sera suggested._

 _The pale girl simply huffed and pinched the bridge of her nose before looking back at the two._

 _Both Guardians looked at one another, sighed, and took turns explaining everything from the magicians' surprise visit. With each word, their friends began to realize that everything connected with what had happened over the past few weeks._

 _When the duo finished, they waited for a bit to let the massive infodump sink in._

 _"I understand if you guys are upset. Hell, I wanted to tell you all the truth back when Takashi and Jessie fought. Bar convinced me that we had to keep it secret to protect you guys and everyone else close to us, " Nick said._

 _"Protect us from what, the boogeyman?" Laura retorted. "You really expect us to believe all that?"_

 _"If you have a different explanation, go ahead and enlighten us," said Barclay._

 _A tense silence followed as the two stared each other down, leaving the others to simply look on as they wanted to see what their friend thought was the truth._

 _"…Sleep-deprived hallucinations for the magicians and the whole spirit world thing, and some kind of prolonged gas leak for everything else," she finally said. "The gas leak's what got Takashi hurt so bad that one time, and the whole chosen one story is your way of dealing with those hallucinations."_

 _"Really? That's the best you could come up with?" Barclay asked._

 _"Well, you hear about some pretty crazy stuff on the news," Takashi commented._

 _"Oh come on, big guy! This is way too insane to just accept!" Laura gestured randomly above her head to emphasize her point._

 _"M-maybe, but when have either of them lied to us? I mean, we're all friends, why would they choose purposely to do that to us?" Atsuko piped up._

 _Laura opened her mouth to reply, but then realized what Atsuko had said. Yes, the boys had run away rather than answer her after Sera and Rin's duel, but not answering a question wasn't the same as outright lying. Barclay in particular wasn't the kind of person who would lie about something as important as this anyway. Maybe they didn't enjoy some of the things she did, but she could still trust them._

 _She looked at Sera, but the tanned girl's face was unreadable. Laura knew her roommate needed rational explanations for everything, which is why Sera's response shocked her so greatly._

 _"This is too big a story to have just made up on the spot. And if they planned this story, then why not sell it to a publisher? Not to mention, there are stories like this found throughout history. They're just usually brushed off as myths."_

 _"So you believe them too?" Laura asked._

 _After a moment of silence, she got a nod in response._

 _Laura sighed, recognizing a lost argument when she heard one. "Fine, let's say I do believe you and this crazy story, what happens now?" she asked._

 _"Yes, what does this mean for you two exactly?" Takashi asked curiously._

 _"Right now, as you guys can guess, three people have already been brainwashed in the same way: Jessie, Rin, and Eugene. That can only mean whoever is doing this is on the island," Nick replied._

 _Their eyes widened with shock._

 _"S-so are we all in danger?" Atsuko wondered._

 _"Hard to say," said Nick. "So far no one else has been affected besides those three, but it could mean the culprit's trying to figure out who has the Gate and Key."_

 _"When do you think they were all affected?" Takashi asked._

 _"Probably hours or days before depending, each person had been corrupted in different times so it's hard to pinpoint when exactly," Barclay replied._

 _"Exactly, there isn't a lot of room for a timeline or even a concept of where we would find them," Nick added._

 _"Any suspects?" Sera asked._

 _Nick sighed. "We didn't exactly ask any of them if they met anyone weird, so no, not really."_

 _"And so far the victims have been two Ra Yellows and an Obelisk Blue. So I'm guessing it might be someone in Slifer Red who's behind this," Barclay added._

 _"Though we haven't been able to sense any dark energy from the dorm, so either there's more than one or they're really good at hiding themselves."_

 _"So what's the plan?" Laura asked._

 _Nick and Barclay looked at one another then sighed in frustration._

 _"For now, we have to wait until we find some kind of connection or way to track them down. It's all we can do," Nick replied._

 _"Well, you can bet you won't be doing it alone," the large student remarked with a thumbs up._

 _"And don't even think about telling us to stay out of it, we're your friends and we're gonna help whether you want us to or not!" the albino girl remarked with a cocky tone._

 _Barclay shook his head in annoyance while Nick laughed in relief._

 _"Ah… I'm glad to have that off my chest," the redhead said._

 _"Just… don't say anything you don't have to," Barclay said._

* * *

"Are we sure they weren't just making it up or hallucinating from a gas leak or something?" asked Laura.

"Does this look like an alien invasion movie to you?" Sera replied.

"I trust them," Takashi repeated as he put the last chair to the remaining desk.

"Hey," Nick called out from the door. "If you guys are finished in there, we're ready to work on the next classroom."

They all sighed and got up to walk out to continue their punishment.

* * *

 _ **Nurse's Office**_

Most of Nurse Fontaine's staff were relaxing or catching up on paperwork since Saturday's tended to be slow days. Though two of the patients had their own private nurses working outside their doors on academy-issued laptops.

One of them was Eugene, currently taking a nap after answering a few questions.

The other, Erhard, was looking out at the sunset.

He got distracted when his nurse came in.

"Hello, Mr. Erhard, how are we feeling today?" She asked while looking at his charts.

"Much better, thank you," he replied.

"Fantastic, then it looks like you'll be released tomorrow," the nurse said as she finished going over his charts and putting them back. "Some friends of yours are here if you're feeling up for visitors."

"Yes, I think I can handle that," he answered.

The nurse nodded and opened the door, letting in his two visitors. Ivor and Tauni smiled at him as they entered.

"Buzz me if you need anything," the nurse remarked, closing the door as she left.

Ivor locked it behind her, and Erhard casually got up and waved a hand at the door. Dark energy covered it like a blanket and soon disappeared.

"That oughta keep wandering eyes from coming in. So, anything to say, Ivor?" Erhard asked seriously.

"Yes, comrade. I could not risk them discovering the truth, so I left when he failed," Ivor remarked with shame.

"So, looks like Mr. Big Shot isn't so great after all, huh?" Tauni mocked as she sat down on a nearby chair.

"I'm certainly a better loser than you, comrade!"

"Shut up, you Russian turd! I didn't mess up-"

"Stop arguing, both of you" the black-haired teen blurted out, causing the two to stop and look away from one another.

Erhard walked towards the window to get a better view of the sunset, thinking about everything that happened. "Ivor, just because Dracul failed doesn't mean you did. In fact, I think this whole episode has given us exactly what we're looking for," he remarked.

Tauni looked outraged at this, while Ivor just looked confused.

* * *

 _ **And we've crossed the threshold with only 3 more chapters left before we officially reach 20 chapters for this series. To those who've been reading, we thank you all for your support to us and our Beta, Eneko95, who has been our support for these chapters.**_

 **Translations** :

" **Bunkers** " - table tops or counters

" **Clarty** " - dirty


	18. Initial Order Arc: Wolf's Broken Path

_**Hello everyone, Raydark and Leengard here, and we both want to thank each and everyone of you for reading our story. I know it's not the best Yu-Gi-Oh series, but it does us good to know that there are those who like it. I hope you'll continue to be patient with us as we continue writing these for everyone to read. We'd also like to thank Eneko95 for her continuous work in being our beta and her patience.**_

 _ **Chapter 18**_

_**Initial Order Arc:**_

 _ **Wolf's Broken Path**_

* * *

 _ **Evening**_

 _ **Dirt Path**_

November had arrived at the academy, meaning it was now significantly cooler despite it being in the middle of the ocean. It mostly meant people now were wearing slightly longer shirts under their traditional uniforms, including a small group that was on their way home. After the ordeal with Eugene and learning the truth, the group decided they needed more information. They'd spent most of their free time in the academy library, poring over every book about Duel Monsters history and mythology it had (which was quite a lot), but nothing had come of it.

"Ugh, all that reading made my brain hurt. I can't believe some of you do this for fun," Nick remarked.

"It wasn't so bad, there was quite a few things I didn't know about," Takashi commented.

"If reading's causing you pain, either you're dumber than I originally thought or you're doing it wrong," Barclay said, still reading a book he checked out from the library.

"Hey!"

"Think of it this way; you know how something becomes a total pain when it's an assignment no matter how much you loved it before?" Sera added. "Reading's like that. If no one's making you do it, it counts as fun."

"Say the history nerds," Laura grumbled.

"I'm surprised that we found anything on the Duel Spirit World at all," Atsuko said. "Granted a lot of it was just throwaway references and conspiracy theory bashing, but it's better than nothing."

"And even those were just **müll** authors trying to be funny." Erhard sighed in annoyance.

"I hope that isn't a bad word," Takashi commented, and everyone laughed.

Soon enough, the group found themselves at the fork leading to the Slifer and Ra dorms as they went their separate paths.

They all continued walking, casually talking about random things to get their minds off of what they read. Though it didn't last long as they heard what sounded like someone yelling.

The group looked around and spotted three Ra students harassing one of their dormmates a few feet away. Two were holding him by the arms, and the other had pulled his victim's shirt over his face.

"God, you're even skinnier than you look!" said the ringleader, and began to hit the unfortunate Slifer in the stomach. "Go ahead and squeal, rat-face, see what it does for you!"

"Nick, hold my book," Barclay said, pushing the tome into his roommate's chest.

"Wha- why me?"

"Because I'm not at risk of getting suspended. Just stay there until I'm done," he answered, then headed towards the other group.

Once he got close enough, Barclay put a seemingly-friendly hand on the ringleader's shoulder. "'Scuse me."

He turned around. "What do you want?"

Then Barclay swept his left leg forward and pushed the Ra to the ground in one quick move.

"Ow! What the hell was that?!" the ringleader gasped.

The other two dropped the Slifer and went straight for Barclay. As far as Nick could tell, all his best friend did was duck and maybe jab someone in the ribs; whatever else had happened, the end result was the offending Ras on the ground, so he decided not to sweat the details. Then the ringleader tried to grab him, but Barclay dodged around and got him in a classic chicken-wing hold.

The rest of the group caught up shortly after that. While Takashi lifted the other two off the ground by their jackets, Erhard and Nick helped their fellow Slifer to his feet.

"You all right?" asked Nick.

The tanned young man pulled his shirt back down with a wince, revealing light blond, almost silvery, hair and striking blue eyes. He had an old red scarf around his neck and a small silver bracelet on one wrist.

"Erhard, have you met **Anakin**? He knows more about Beast cards than anybody else I've met in Slifer," said Nick.

Erhard smiled politely. "I only wish we could've met in better circumstances."

"Don't worry, I-" Anakin gasped from the pain "-I'll be all right."

"It's odd to see you being caught, Anakin," Atsuko said, looking for something in her bag.

"I was coming back from the woods when they blindsided me," Anakin replied while massaging his sore stomach.

Atsuko pulled out a travel-sized first aid kit, opened the box, and took out an equally tiny icepack. "Here you go," she said, passing it to Anakin. "It's not much, but it should help until we get back."

"Now, about these three," Takashi remarked as the boys looked back to the ra's still in the clutches of their friends.

"You assholes mind explaining what's so funny about this?" Nick asked with a glare.

"Oh, like it's our fault you can't take a joke," the leader retorted, trying (and failing) to loosen Barclay's grip on his arm.

"Forgive me if I don't find beating and mocking another student an acceptable joke," Erhard commented.

"Come on, man, we didn't really mean any of that!" one of the two Takashi was holding said. He struggled uselessly to reach the ground. "I swear we didn't!"

"I see. Well, I guess it's fine then." Barclay's tone and face were almost dangerously neutral.

"See? He gets-" Whatever the ringleader would've said got lost in his howl of pain as Barclay twisted his arm a little harder and put pressure on his elbow. "OH GOD YOU'RE GONNA BREAK IT!"

"Not so funny when it happens to you, eh?" Barclay asked calmly before releasing the Ra student. "Let them go, these jokes are rather dull."

"You sure?" Takashi asked. "Won't they just go report you?"

"If they did, it would only get them in trouble for fighting," Barclay replied, still glaring at the ringleader.

Takashi shrugged and dropped the two he was holding, who scrambled over to the ringleader. The three ran off towards the academy.

"Where'd you learn moves like that?" Anakin asked.

"Our neighbors run a dojo, so I started going there every day after my family moved to Japan," he explained. "I'm surprised I had a chance to use my moves in the real world."

"Remind me not to get on your bad side," Nick remarked.

"How are you feeling?" Atsuko asked Anakin as she put her backpack on.

"Better, thanks to your icepack," he replied. "It'll be fine by tomorrow."

"You sure? We can get Kanoa to come check-"

"I said it's fine!" He handed her the icepack before walking off into the woods with a huff.

"W-what did I do wrong?" Atsuko asked.

"They injured his pride more than anything else," Barclay said. "For now, the only thing we can do about that is just let him be."

"I don't feel right about leaving him alone, though," Nick added.

"Me either, but Barclay's right. He just needs some space, and we need to get back before we accidentally break curfew," Takashi commented as they nodded in agreement.

They began their trek back to the dorm again, all except for Erhard, who kept looking in the direction that Anakin went through. Though he turned around and walked with the others.

* * *

 _ **Slifer Dorm**_

 _ **Nick/Barclay's Room**_

After the ordeal, the group entered the dorm and went to their separate rooms, wishing each other a good night.

When they entered, Nick all but slammed himself on his bed, tired from the rough day they had while Barclay laid back with his book still in hand.

"Ugh, whoever said school would be interesting lied," the red-haired teen commented with a yawn.

"School probably seems dull because of the extra insanity we've got to deal with," Barclay replied. "For most people, school's exciting enough on its own. But we've got a 'bigger purpose' to work towards."

" _Of course it's a bigger purpose,_ " Gwenhwyfar added as she and Blackwing Master appeared in the room. " _The fate of the world lies in the balance._ "

"See what I mean?" Barclay remarked.

Master only nodded while he stood next to Nick then proceeded to point at him, then swipe his arm on his forehead, and then shrug.

"'Me being tired shouldn't be a big deal' is what you're saying?" the red-haired teen asked.

This earned a nod from the spirit.

"Buddy, you're basically a spirit and you've been hiding this whole time, you don't get to say stuff like that. I bet your hiding place is really comfortable, huh?" Nick added with a chuckle.

" _We've been keeping your power masked from those who would seek to take it from you. Plus, we can't just show up whenever we want. If we're seen by others it would only cause you two problems, wouldn't it?_ " Gwenhwyfar replied. " _So it's not like we've just been hanging out in your decks doing nothing._ "

"Calm down, Gwen," Barclay said, finally closing the book. "They're just joking with each other."

" _Now is not the time for jokes._ " Gwenhwyfar sighed. " _Darkness is moving closer now than ever before._ "

Master tightened his fist before slamming it against his other hand, then pointed outside the window as he held three talons towards them. "So there's three darknesses on the island? I thought you guys couldn't sense the darkness that well?" Nick asked.

" _Just the traces of what you've already purified,_ " Gwenhyfar replied. " _We can't pinpoint the source of the darkness yet, and there's the foreboding aura that coats the whole island as well…_ "

"This foreboding aura just because there are members of this Order you mentioned on the island?" Barclay asked. "Or is it more that you're just worrying?"

" _The Order is here on the island,_ " Gwenhyfar answered. " _They've been actively searching for the Key and the Gate._ "

With that, both spirits disappeared back to their homes, leaving Nick and Barclay to think on what they said. "Well, least we know we're on the right track. Each time someone has been possessed, it's either been before or after something bad has happened," Nick remarked. "If we can find them before that happens, maybe we can find out who they are."

"By that logic, we should be stalking Anakin right now." Barclay laughed. He glanced over and saw the look on his roommate's face.

"No?"

"You're not funny," Nick deadpanned. Then he smiled to show there weren't any hard feelings. "Though it is nice not to have to worry about lying to our friends anymore."

"They did help cut the research time down significantly," Barclay said. "It would've taken us a few days, at the very least, to get through as much as we did today."

Nick nodded, though soon had a disappointed look on his face as he sighed and looked at Barclay.

"Look, man, I…I just want to apologize for what I said before, about you not trusting the others. I know you care in your own way."

" **Ah widnae worry aboot it**." Barclay yawned. "Water under the bridge."

"Just like that?" Nick asked with a chuckle.

"Dwelling on the negative's not healthy. Besides, we've got bigger fish ta fry, don't we?"

Nick smiled while shaking his head and thanked Barclay as he decided to take a shower, this time with Barclay joining him as they headed towards the boys' bathhouse.

* * *

 _ **Main Building**_

 _ **Assembly Hall**_

The next day was one of interest to everyone since they were all called, from first years to fourth, for an assembly by the Headmistress. Most were unaware of why they were brought, but a few just saw it as an excuse to miss out their first period class. Amongst the muttering, Nick and his friends were sitting with one another, curiously wondering what was going on.

"Boring ass assemblies," Barclay muttered, echoing himself from the first day.

"Some things never change, do they?" Nick chuckled.

"Quiet down everyone," Headmistress Ward called as she walked onto the stage. "I've got a very exciting announcement to make." Slowly the cacophony died down to a murmur and then to silence as the Headmistress waited on stage.

"I just got the finalization notice an hour ago," She began. "Which means I can now tell everyone about the plan that your Academy staff have been organizing for the past few months. Everyone, we are going to have a friendly little competition with some of the students from North Duel Academy."

A few of them muttered at what she meant by it.

"Now we still have a few more issues to work out, but one or a few lucky students will have a chance to duel the students and show the academy how talented our students are. So sharpen your skills and build your decks well."

With that, she declared the assembly over as everyone started walking out of the hall.

While walking back to their class, the group were talking with one another about what they had heard. "I can't believe it… That's a huge duel to be part of," Nick said.

"No kidding. Hell, even Dracul would probably be scared by how many people would be watching," Laura added.

"Hey, you actually got his name right," Takashi noticed, making Laura huff and slightly blush.

"W-wonder how they'll determine who's going to duel," Atsuko asked, looking extremely worried that it could be her. "Either they'll just pick one of the top students out of Obelisk or they'll do some sort of lottery." Barclay shrugged. "Odds are, they'll go with a top Obelisk."

"If the school wants to make a strong showing, then probably," Sera agreed. "But the way the Headmistress was talking, it sounds like they're going with the lottery."

Before Nick could answer, he looked forward to see Anakin a few feet from them, walking with the other students. Though he looked like someone had told him his best friend had died.

"Anakin doesn't look so good," the red-haired teen said.

"Oh no… he must still have problems with bullies," Atsuko said sadly.

"Should we try to cheer him up?" Takashi suggested.

"Not knowing what's bothering him makes it pretty hard to cheer him up," Barclay pointed out. "Could cause more harm than good."

"He might be the type that needs to work it out on their own, too," Sera said. "Laura knows to leave me alone when I'm in a bad mood." Laura chuckled. "Learned that the hard way."

Atsuko still looked worried as they went back to class.

* * *

 _ **Mid-Afternoon**_

 _ **Dirt Path**_

After class had let out, most of the students were loitering around campus or heading back to their dorms early for the day due to the assembly.

Anakin, for his part, was relaxing in a patch of tall grass under a tree. If he laid down in it he'd be completely hidden (except from the birds, but he didn't mind them). The trees were just thin enough in this part of the woods for him to have a good view of the sky; today it was clear apart from the occasional cloud. A light breeze rustled the branches above him, adding an extra layer of peace to the area. He treasured every opportunity he got to experience and connect to nature.

Though the peace disappeared when he heard cocky laughter coming towards him. He looked up, and saw three very familiar Ra students' faces.

"Hello again, rat-face," said their leader. "Ready to pick up where we left off?"

"I've done nothing to you or your friends; why do you do this?"

One of the others laughed. "The strong consume the weak, nature boy. That's how it's always been!"

"So if it's survival of the fittest, why not just duel me?" asked Anakin. "Or do you think the only way you can win is by outnumbering and overpowering me?"

The leader scoffed. "We don't have to prove ourselves to a Slacker like you. Our jackets do all that for us and everyone knows it. It's the law of the Academy.

"Now then, let's get back to where we were before."

They started towards the sitting teen, but just as they were about to reach him, they all stopped immediately.

Anakin almost thought they were reconsidering (more likely planning a new way to hurt him), but then he noticed their eyes. All three students' eyes had gone eerily blank. One by one, they hit the ground face-first.

" **Dummköpfe stürzen ein** ," Erhard said darkly.

"Wh-what?" Anakin stammered. "What was that?"

"The kind of power one can only obtain by making certain kinds of deals," Erhard replied, stepping over the unconscious Ra students.

All the tanned teen could do was breath shakily, trying to grasp the situation that happened. Part of him thought back to what his grandfather told him, about evil spirits that can do horrible things to others.

Though he didn't want to believe that his fellow dormmate was one of them.

"A…are they…?"

"Dead? No, though I'm sure they'll think twice about doing this sort of thing. I can tell from your face you'd like that kind of power for yourself. Make a deal with me and I'll grant it."

"A deal with **Weesageechak** or **Coyote?** " Anakin muttered.

"We…?" Erhard looked confused for a moment, then shook his head. "Anakin, I'm here to help you. If you agree to the deal I'm offering, you'll be able to prove yourself not just to your friends, but the whole Academy. Of course, some people have to do things the hard way, so if you'd rather continue your little…discussion with the Dummköpfe, I understand."

"…Name your price."

* * *

 _ **Oh no! Erhard's not their friend! Well… not that much of a shock, revealed that last chapter didn't we? But still! He's now spreading that evil! Is there no one they can trust who transferred in? Is there no one safe from their manipulative power offers? Will Anakin accept or will he turn Erhard down? What evils await our heroes? Turn in next- wait… this isn't a 60's Superhero TV ending… um, please keep reading! Thanks.**_

 **Translations** :

" **Ah widnae worry aboot it.** " - "I wouldn't worry about it."

" **Dummköpfe stürzen ein.** " - "Fools rush in," literally "Fools are falling."

" **Weesageechak** "- benevolent trickster in Cree folklore, friend of mankind

" **Coyote** " - trickster deity in multiple Native American tribes, generally malicious


	19. Initial Order Arc: War of Nature I

_**Hey everyone, as usual thanks for reading and as always thanks to our Beta for all her hard work. Last chapter left off with Erhard making an offer to Anakin. Did he accept? Has another student fallen to the evil powers of The Order? You probably already know the answer, but if you want to read anyways we'd really appreciate that.**_

 _ **Chapter 19**_

 _ **Initial Order Arc:**_

 _ **War of Nature**_

 _ **Part I**_

* * *

 _ **Night**_

 _ **Slifer Dorm**_

Normally, Atsuko slept through the night with no problem. However, something about tonight kept her tossing and turning and finding that sleep continued to elude her.

 _Maybe a little walk will help…_ She thought before quietly creeping out of her room into the cool night air.

It had been weeks since she came to the island that she had gone outside to look at the clear sky, seeing the sea of stars above her. It was a sight that could go on forever, but she soon found herself starting to get disoriented and looked back down to the forest in front of her.

After she composed herself, the blue-haired girl heard the shuffle of feet and looked around. Close-by, she saw someone walking from her dorm towards the woods, catching a glimpse of what looked like a red jacket.

She went over to where the student had passed through, but didn't see anyone there.

Atsuko realized something must've happened and ran back inside to go towards Takashi's room on the boy's side of the dorm.

She quickly knocked a few times, hoping that the large student would wake up.

A few tense moments of silence past as the door opened to reveal a bleary-eyed Takashi blinking out at the darkness to see who was there. "Atsuko?" he murmured, rubbing his eyes. "Is something wrong?"

"Maybe," she replied nervously. "I thought I saw someone walking into the woods, and with the… revelation of what Nick and Barclay had told us, I'm worried something might be wrong."

"I see," Takashi said, now more awake. "I'll go wake them and we can go investigate."

After putting on his uniform jacket and shoes, he and Atsuko went to the rooms of Nick and Barclay.

When they arrived, the two could hear snoring coming from their door. It wasn't loud enough to echo through the hall, though if anyone was close, they'd be able to hear it.

The large student knocked a few times in hopes of waking up two.

A few moments later, Nick opened the door as the two saw him wearing ear muffs. "Oh, hey you two, why are you up so late?" He asked after taking them off.

A quick explanation and a less quick waking of the still sleeping Barclay and the small group headed into the woods.

* * *

 _ **Forest**_

"So, we don't know who we're looking for, where they may have gone or if there's even anyone to be looking for," Barclay muttered around a yawn. "If this turns out to be a wild goose chase, you all owe me a pack of cards."

Nick laughed. "That's pretty cheap for vengeance."

"I'm too tired to think up proper vengeance right now," Barclay replied.

"Though is it wise to bring our duel disks?" Takashi wondered, seeing everyone having them along with their decks already inserted.

"Ye-yeah, do you really think we'll run into trouble?" Atsuko added.

"I was never a Boy Scout but I try to live up to their motto anyway: 'Be prepared,'" Nick remarked.

They continued walking, looking for any signs of someone having passed through recently. In the darkness, they were even less effective trackers than they were in the day.

"I think we're lost," Barclay said after fifteen minutes. "Atsuko, I know we told you about our situation, but you're sure you didn't think you saw someone?" Nick wondered.

"I-"

"Hey now, come on Nick! You know as well as I she is trustworthy, she wouldn't lie about anything like this." Takashi remarked before she had a chance to talk.

The petite girl smiled while having a blush on her face.

"He didn't say she lied," Barclay said, looking in the opposite direction the group was heading. "Just that the darkness may've played tricks on her eyes."

"What do you mean?" Takashi and Atsuko asked.

"Hypnagogic hallucinations. Your body will sometimes hear or see things that aren't there as it's transitioning to 'sleep mode'; movement, people or animals, voices, and so on," Barclay explained.

"Meaning…?" Nick prompted, still trying to follow what his roommate was saying.

"Meaning it might actually be nothing after all," Barclay finished.

Takashi clenched his fist tightly, and Nick took that as his cue to fend off a potential fight.

"Look, at best it could've been anything, but we're not gonna just flat out ignore it. We'll look a bit longer to see if we find anything, OK?"

They all nodded in agreement and continued walking forward into the woods.

Though eventually, after about another ten minutes, they heard yelling close by along with the echoes of a duel happening.

They ran towards the sounds as they came upon a duel that was going on, though they were shocked by the appearance of the duelist. " **7 Colored Fish** , f-finish this duel… by d-destroying his… **Ancient Lizard Warrior** ," a pained voice panted.

A green fish head burst out of the back of a green scaled reptilian monster, which exploded into dust and knocked the unfortunate Ra student flat on his back.

Someone else chuckled darkly. "Wonderful. For slack-jawed fools who could barely duel their way out of a wet paper bag."

Everyone turned toward the voice. To their surprise, they saw Anakin sitting on a tree branch like it was his throne. A small army of forest animals-squirrels, birds, rabbits, even a tanuki or two-surrounded the tree, staring forward intently.

Then they noticed that every animal had glowing red eyes, and Anakin himself had a more malicious vibe than usual.

" _He's been tainted by The Order,_ " Gwenhwyfar whispered to her partner.

One of them stepped on a twig, causing it to snap and the Slifer to look over in their direction. "Ah, my friends. It's so good to see you, come and join us," he said.

"Are you alright, Anakin?" Atsuko asked, stepping forward with the others.

"I've never been better, thank you," he replied calmly.

Nick looked at the bodies on the floor and from what he could tell, they were only unconscious. It wasn't just one pair of students from a dorm, it was from all three.

Though part of him knew that some may have deserved this, but no one should ever be hurt in any way.

"So, the duel just now, what was that?" the red-haired teen asked seriously.

"Entertainment. All the good these animals are worth," the young student replied with malice.

"You're forcing them to duel until they lose consciousness? Just for your own entertainment? That's disgusting!" Atsuko cried out.

Anakin smirked. "It's justice."

"It's cruel and unusual!"

"I understand your frustration, Anakin, but this isn't the way," Takashi added. "We can get you help, talk to someone who can deal with the bullies-"

"Hahaha! Help?! Why would I need help from anyone, especially those useless teachers?! Look around you! I've made this possible all on my own!"

"You _borrowed_ your powers from some interdimensional evil organization hell-bent on destroying or ruling the world. I'd hardly call that 'on your own,'" Barclay said.

"You know nothing of the source of my power!" Anakin barked.

"Neither do you!" Atsuko cut in again. "Using your anger to justify hurting the others only breeds more anger!"

The animals around Anakin growled (those that could, anyway) and headed towards them in eerie unison. More than a few of the bigger ones also bared their teeth.

Takashi got in front of his friends protectively. "When I say 'Run' or they start biting me, run."

Then something unexpected happened.

"Wait!"

Anakin jumped down from the tree branch, and the animals immediately backed away from Takashi. "I can handle this myself," he told them. "Go back to guarding my throne."

As his de facto minions returned to the tree, Anakin walked up to the group and equipped his duel disk and visors.

The duel disk's red and white color scheme stood out clearly in the darkness, and in turn complemented the stylized black animal imagery. His digi-construct manifested and took the appearance of a gunstock war club with five spots across it.

"You think I'm wrong? Fine, then let's settle this how most people settle disputes here; with a duel. Atsuko, I challenge you!" Anakin pointed at her dramatically.

Barclay and Nick were about to interfere, but Atsuko put a hand on each of their shoulders.

The two turned around, saw the determined look on her face, and stepped aside to make room for her as she walked forward.

She activated the duel disk already on her arm, it was primarily green in color with a four-pronged symbol in a circle being prominently displayed on the top in white. Other designs on her duel disk gave the impression of flowing air or water.

Her dig-construct manifested, taking on the shape of a vibrant green feather with a red tip and five spots designated for cards.

"If it's the only way to help you, then let's duel!"

The trio behind her backed away a few feet and they placed their own visors on when the hologram dome expanded around them.

Faces appeared on the trees around them as the forest became even darker. The only sources of light were small glowing pods sprinkled around, giving just enough light for the duelist to see.

* * *

 **Atsuko** \- 8000

 **Anakin** \- 8000

"I'll go first," Anakin declared as he drew his hand and looked over it. "I'll start by activating the field spell **Closed Forest**."

Countless trees suddenly began erupting from the ground and twisting together into a near impenetrable mass of trees that made the already dark forest they were standing in even darker and somewhat claustrophobic.

"Next, I play two cards face down and summon my **Hyena** (3/1000/300) in attack mode."

Stepping out of the trees came a grey-white furred quadruped with high shoulders. Its muzzle and feet were coated in brown fur and its hungry eyes leered at Atsuko as potential prey.

"I end my turn."

Atsuko drew her first card before putting it into her hand. _Anakin, no matter what happens to me, I promise you I'll bring you back from the dark side._

* * *

 _ **And we come to yet another frustrating cliffhanger, sorry about it guys, but gotta keep the suspense, right? We'll let your minds comprehend what happens, so until next chapter.**_


	20. Initial Order Arc: War of Nature II

_**Greetings, I'll keep it brief and say to all of our fans, hope you're enjoying our story so we can get to the good stuff, enjoy. Also this marks the end of the Initial Order Arc, so look forward to something new next chapter.**_

 _ **Chapter 20**_

 _ **Initial Order Arc:**_

 _ **War of Nature Part II**_

* * *

 _ **Forest**_

**Atsuko** \- 8000

 **Anakin** \- 8000

"I'll start my turn by activating the spell **Pot of Duality**. This lets me look at the first three cards of my deck, pick one, and send the rest back to my deck," Atsuko remarked.

A jar that looked like an unholy fusion of the original Pot of Greed and Pot of Serenity appeared on the field and spun around a few times before releasing a puff of sparkling dust onto her duel disk.

She then drew her three cards; **Fiendish Chain** , **Quill Pen of Gulldos** , and **Kamui, Hope of Gusto** (2/100/1000).

Her choice was the monster card before putting the other two back into her deck, causing it to shuffle.

"I'll end my turn by placing a defense monster on the field and setting this one facedown."

Both cards materialized on the field as she gave a confidence glare at her opponent.

Anakin drew to signify he had started his turn.

"I'll set one monster face down in defense mode," Anakin said as the card materialized. "Now, Hyena, attack her face down monster with Scavenger Pounce!"

The beast took two bounds before leaping the rest of the way across the field to land on top of her set monster, revealing it as Kamui; a young man in simple clothes with a green ponytail and a scarf a shade or two lighter.

He struck away the beast, causing it to go back to its side due to its defense having the same points as Hyena's attack. "Since you attacked him, I activate his special ability-"

"Unfortunately, I won't let that happen, thanks in part to my face down card, Solemn Strike! By paying 1500 Life Points, I am allowed to negate your monster's effect and destroy it!" In mere seconds, a bolt of lightning came down and hit her monster, vaporizing it.

 **Atsuko** \- 8000

 **Anakin** \- (8000 - 6500)

* * *

"I'll end my turn on that," he remarked.

"Huh. I didn't expect her to use a Gusto deck." Nick smiled.

"Why's that?" Takashi questioned.

"The archetype is associated with the wind, freedom and being more assertive," Barclay replied. "Atsuko's rather timid, usually."

"For my turn, I'll just set another defense monster on the field."

"Then I go once again." Anakin smirked while drawing with swift movement. "Though it won't do much right now, I'll activate the continuous spell **Solidarity!** "

The card appeared, depicting five Ojamas in different colors materialized in a circle with bones and grave markers surrounding them.

"Next, my Hyena is gonna make dinner out of your facedown monster!"

Again, the beast bounded across the field before pouncing on Atsuko's face down monster, revealing it to be **Gusto Gulldo** (3/500/500). A small cyan-feathered bird with studded green leather bands appeared just long enough for Hyena to take a massive bite out of and destroy it.

"You just activated its special effect," Atsuko declared. "Whenever Gulldo is destroyed and sent to the graveyard in battle, I can special summon a Level 2 or lower Gusto from my deck."

A single feather floated down from the sky onto Atsuko's deck and caused it to eject, allowing her to grab it and search. " **Winda, Priestess of Gusto** (2/1000/400), I need you now."

Wind blew in and surrounded an area on her side of the field as a figure emerged from it.

A young woman in a beige overcoat and flowing white blouse appeared on the field. She, like every other Gusto card, had green hair and she was wielding a staff in a defensive manner.

"Tch, I'll end my turn then," Anakin spat.

The trio behind Atsuko could tell that Anakin was starting to lose his temper due to not being able to get through her defense.

"I draw and summon my **Pilica, Descendant of Gusto** (3/1000/1500) in attack mode," she remarked.

Another spiral of wind appeared next to Winda as a new figure appeared.

A young girl with green hair and red tips pulled up in a ponytail appeared on the field. She wore a fur-lined beige cape over the light green clothing that all Gustos wore. She also held a staff topped with a blue orb and a carving of one of the Gusto birds.

"She may be small, but her ability more than makes up for it: Whenever she's Normal or Special Summoned, I can bring out a Wind tuner monster from my graveyard back to the field."

As Atsuko said that, the small girl began to chant an incantation as a glowing spiral of wind emerged next to her.

"So, I'll be summoning back my Gusto Gulldo in defense mode!"

The bird monster came back to the field, only this time its wings were in front of it in a defensive stance.

"Is that all you're going to do?" Anakin demanded. "Keep hiding behind birds and children?"

"I'm done hiding now, because I'm about to go on the offensive with Gulldo and Pilica," Atsuko began.

Both her monsters went into the air as her bird soon exploded and released three light rings that surrounded the young girl, which in turn created a blinding flash.

"I tune them together in order to Synchro Summon **Daigusto Sphreez** (6/2000/1300)!"

The light died down to reveal a young woman in a white and green "battle suit," for lack of a better term, with long green hair that turned red at the ends and a stone spear in her hands.

Nick's jaw dropped slightly. "Wow, that's a strong one."

"Kinda fits her somehow, I think," said Takashi.

"Considering its effect, yeah, I'd say it's fitting," Barclay commented.

"My new monster comes with a few tricks up her sleeve, one being her special ability: Whenever she's Synchro Summoned to the field, I can add any Gusto monster from my graveyard to my hand."

Soon enough, Sphreez turned to her owner and slammed her spear into the ground, causing it to glow as an orb released from it and entered her duel disk.

"I'll be adding Pillica back to my hand," Atsuko declared as her graveyard ejected the monster, allowing her to grab it.

"Sphreez, attack his hyena with **Tornado Tackle!** "

The monster flapped its wings and flew upward before spinning into a nosedive, causing a small vortex to surround its body. "Well, as long as there's a tornado warning, I might as well activate Storming Mirror Force," said Anakin. "The skies aren't looking too friendly this evening, are they?"

The trap card revealed itself as a powerful vortex pushed Sphreez's away, making her disappear from the field.

"All your monsters in attack mode go back to your hand, or your extra deck if any of them are Synchros."

Atsuko grabbed her monster before placing it in her extra deck once more.

"I'll end my turn by activating the spell **Transmodify** , which allows me to Special Summon a monster by using one I have on the field. So, in exchange for my level 2 Winda, I can now summon my second level three Pilica in defense mode," Atsuko remarked.

Wind surrounded her monster as a bright light glowed from it, resulting in Pilica reappearing on the field.

"My turn," Anakin said with a frown, drawing. "I'll Flip Summon **Super-Nimble Mega Hamster** (4/1100/1800) in attack mode, which allows me to special summon a level 3 or lower Beast-type monster from my deck."

A very large, dark gray hamster with a lightning bolt on its white belly appeared on the field. It immediately began bouncing around Anakin's side of the field and headbutted his duel disk, knocking a card out of the deck slot. However, before Anakin could special summon the new monster…

"To quote you, 'unfortunately I won't let that happen, thanks in part to my face down card', **Breakthrough Skill** . This allows me to negate any monster's effect, and that hamster of yours has a dangerous one, so I'll choose him," said Atsuko.

The card revealed itself as it glowed, causing the hamster to stop mid-bounce and look around in a mild daze.

"Then I end my turn, since my monsters lack the attack power to remove your defenses," Anakin said while tightening his fist.

The boys were each wondering about Atsuko's plan and how she might gain the upper hand. At the moment, things could go either way.

"My turn once again," the blue-haired girl replied. "Now from my hand, I summon **Krebons** (2/1200/400) in attack mode."

A weird, jester-like being appeared on the field. Its outfit was primarily white and blue with gold trim and circuit-like designs across it. Adding to its jester-esque appearance, it appeared to be juggling shapes reminiscent of an old block-stacking game.

"Am I supposed to be impressed by some ridiculous clown?" Anakin said, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't count him out yet, because now I'm gonna tune together Krebons with my Pillica in order to Synchro Summon **Daigusto Gulldos** (5/2200/800)!"

A loud boom echoed through the forest as a large armored green bird descended from the canopy. Every flap of its wings stirred up another breeze, but its green-haired rider never lost her grip on the reins.

"Oh, wow, that's how her Gulldos looks when it's a Synchro Monster? Crazy," Nick said.

"It's almost like every one of them has all of her monsters together in some way," Takashi added.

"Isn't that how the Gusto archetype was designed in the first place?" Barclay pointed out.

"Don't think I'm done just yet, 'cuz now I'm activating its special ability: By returning two Gusto monsters from my graveyard to my deck, I can destroy any card on the field, and I'm choosing your Hyena!"

The rider pulled the reins as the beast started to glow bright green. Winda and Kamui were ejected from Atsuko's graveyard and she put them back into her deck.

The bird then cawed loudly, collecting that same green light in its open beak before firing it like a laser. Hyena didn't stand a chance.

"Destroying that monster just activated both spells on my field!" Anakin said. "First, Solidarity: because I have only one type of monster in my graveyard, monsters with the same type gain 800 attack points!"

Behind Anakin, a glaring, glowing beast eye opened in the tangle of woods that surrounded the field.

"Second, my field spell: For every Beast monster in my graveyard, the Beasts I have on the field gain an additional 100 attack points! Giving my Super-Nimble Mega Hamster 900 attack points!"

The glow from both cards caused the hamster to double in size, gaining a more primal appearance as it roared.

Super-Nimble Mega Hamster: 1100 - 2000

"It is stronger, but it still won't be able to survive my Gulldos! Go, attack it with Crushing Talon!"

The beast raised its leg as it slammed down onto the hamster, destroying it in the process.

 **Atsuko** \- 8000

 **Anakin** \- (6500 - 6300)

* * *

With it destroyed, a second eye opened on one of the trees.

"I'll finish my turn with that," Atsuko said. "I'm not gonna lose just yet!" Anakin growled as he drew. "First, I'll activate the spell **Obedience Schooled!** This spell allows me to special summon three Level 2 or lower monsters if I don't have any others on the field."

A faintly glowing dog whistle appeared in Anakin's hand. When he blew it, his deck glowed with the same light, allowing him to search it for the monsters he wanted.

"Say hello to **Kalantosa, Mystical Beast of the Forest** (2/200/1400), **Uniflora, Mystical Beast of the Forest** (1/700/500), and **Valerifawn, Mystical Beast of the Forest** (2/400/900)."

Three new monsters emerged from the forest depths. The first one was a small, white rabbit-like creature with soft, green succulent plants sprouting on its back and a red gem in its forehead with gold filigree across its head like a crown. The second was a white horse with green vine-like designs spiraling across its form, with a majority of its body covered in a blanket of green moss and similar plants and a golden horn sprouting from its forehead. The final one was a young deer-like creature with white flowers growing from the back of its head and back and horn like patterns on its forehead.

Though each of them looked tired, almost like they were drained of energy.

"Wow, three monsters in one move? That's pretty impressive," Nick said. "It doesn't mean that he'll win with them, Atsuko still has a chance," Takashi added.

"Doesn't that spell prevent their effects from activating?" Barclay asked. "I'm guessing he's about to do something bad…" "Now with them on the field, I'll be taking a page from your playlist! Because now I'm tuning them together in order to Synchro Summon **Thunder Unicorn** (5/2200/1800)!"

The three monsters were consumed in pillars of light, which then fused together into a single pillar. A deep blue unicorn with yellow stripes and a jagged horn stepped out of the light, golden mane crackling with electricity.

"And with three more Beasts in the graveyard, my monster gains a total of 1300 extra attack points for a total of 3500!" Anakin continued.

Three more eyes appeared on the trees and like with his hamster, the horse transformed into a primal form of itself.

"Now, before I attack, I'll activate Thunder Unicorn's effect, allowing me to drop one of your monsters' attack points by 500! And with only one option…"

The equine beast pawed at the ground angrily and threw its head, sending a spark flying across the field to strike Atsuko's Daigusto Gulldos. Electricity coursed through the creature, making it seize up as he squawked in pain.

Daigusto Gulldos - (2200 ATK - 1700 ATK)

Atsuko crossed her arms in front of her to prepare for the inevitable impact.

"Now! Destroy that bird with your **Piercing Thunder Charge!** " Anakin shouted.

Thunder Unicorn neighed loudly and began galloping across the field. Soon the lightning in its mane covered its entire body, and everyone's hair stood on end a little. Then the unicorn leaped, piercing both the bird and its rider with a supercharged horn.

Daigusto disappeared in a powerful clap of thunder, which sent a second shockwave at everyone else.

 **Atsuko** \- (8000 - 6200)

 **Anakin** \- 6300

* * *

"And with that, my turn ends," Anakin said.

Atsuko drew her next card when the force of the shock wave died down.

"I summon back to the field Pilica, which triggers her effect and lets me bring Gulldo back to the field." Like before, the little girl chanted as the familiar bird came back in defense mode.

"And just like before, I'll tune them together to bring back Daigusto Sphreez. Of course, doing that triggers her effect, so I'll just take Pilica from my graveyard once this is over."

The girl and the bird once again turned into balls of light that became Sphreez. And just like before, Sphreez hit the ground with her spear and caused Pilica's card to pop out of the graveyard slot.

"What kind of strategy is this?! You're just recycling the same cards over and over!" Anakin said, narrowing his eyes at her. "That's how my deck works, Anakin! None of my cards are worthless! Show him, Sphreez, attack him with **Tornado Tackle!** "

The monster nodded and flew up, spinning around as it soon transformed into a miniature tornado and aimed right at the large horse.

" **Qué ?!** " Nick gasped.

"Atsuko…" Takashi muttered while chewing his bottom lip.

"She's got something up her sleeve," Barclay said, though he looked unsure.

Both monsters collided, but the lighting sparking from Unicorn broke the tornado and flung Sphreez back to her side of the field.

However, some sparks of electricity got sent towards Anakin, shocking him and making him drop to his knees.

 **Atsuko** \- 6200

 **Anakin** \- (6300 - 4800)

* * *

"How?" Anakin demanded. "How is it that I took damage when your monster's clearly weaker? It should've been destroyed!"

"My Sphreez has more power than you thought: Whenever a Gusto monster attacks while she's on the field, any damage I would've taken is directed to you instead. Also, she can't be destroyed by battle."

"So that's why she was so calm when she declared an attack," the red-haired teen realized.

"See? She did have something up her sleeve." Barclay sighed.

"I end my turn, your move."

"Grrrr…" Anakin drew aggressively. "I'll activate the spell **Scapegoat** , change Thunder Unicorn to defense mode, and end my turn."

Four miniature goat-like creatures trotted out of the forest, bleating.

"I draw and summon Gusto Egul (1/200/400) in attack mode."

Another armored green bird appeared on the field. It had a head of white feathers and piercing red eyes.

"Go wake him up, Egul!"

The bird flew upward and then went straight into a nosedive aimed at Thunder Unicorn, only for the unicorn to knock it out of the way with its horn.

The force from the attack though sent a shock-wave towards Anakin as it knocked him to his knees again.

 **Atsuko** \- 6200

 **Anakin** \- (4800 - 3200)

* * *

"You see now, Anakin? Needless violence just causes more pain, it doesn't solve anything at all," she explained while crossing her arms.

"Shut up!" Anakin shouted in frustration. A few veins on his neck popped out. "I activate Thunder Unicorn's effect again! This time targeting your stupid bird!"

The electricity shocked Egul, causing it to flop on the field, completely drained of strength.

Gusto Egul: 200 - 0

"Now, Thunder Unicorn! Back to attack mode!" Anakin continued, his words becoming more angered and more frantic. "I'm not giving you the satisfaction! **Trampling Thunder!** "

Again, the blue equine charged across the field. This time, rather than disappearing in a bolt of lightning, every hoofbeat roared of thunder and it reached Atsuko's monster and began trampling it. Again, the shockwaves from the attack shot towards Anakin, rather than Atsuko and the young man collapsed.

 **Atsuko** \- 6200

 **Anakin** \- (3200 - 0)

* * *

With the duel over, the dome slowly disappeared as it revealed the real night sky to everyone who was taking off their visors. The boys behind Atsuko all looked in shock by what just happened.

"He threw the match," Nick realized.

"I…but he was possessed," said Takashi. "No one else who got possessed did that, right?"

"They may have lashed out once it was clear they weren't going to win, but they didn't lose on purpose." Barclay frowned.

Atsuko's lip quivered a bit as she walked towards her unconscious opponent. "Are you OK?" she asked nervously. "Anakin, wake up. Can you hear me?"

Both Nick and Barclay walked forward as their hands began glowing once again, though unlike before, the darkness disappeared immediately.

"That's strange," Nick remarked as he kneeled and placed his hand on Anakin's forehead. "It's gone, almost like it was never there at all."

"Was it weaker to begin with?" Barclay mused. "Or was there some other factor we're unaware of?"

"What do you mean?" Takashi asked.

"Nothing concrete," Barclay replied. "Honestly, if I said anything, it'd be nothing more than blind conjecture at this point." "Will he be ok?" the petite girl asked.

"Let's hope so, for now though, best we get him and these other guys back to where they belong," Nick added. They all began to try and wake up the passed out students, unaware of the hiding figure not too far from them.

* * *

 _ **Another student saved from the darkness! But someone has seen something. Have the malevolent forces finally positively identified our heroes as the ones holding the powers they seek? Or is this mysterious figure a future ally? … You don't know. But you can find out! Maybe in the next chapter, maybe this'll pay off in a few chapters. Huzzah to the mystery nonetheless though, eh?**_

 _ **As always, thank you for reading and thanks to our Beta, Eneko95, for her continued support.**_

 **Translations** :

 **Qué** \- "What?


	21. Wounded Soul Part I

_**Thanks for coming back for another chapter! We've got another chapter for you to enjoy! ... Repeating myself a bit... What to say to you as an intro to this chapter without giving away the whole thing? Character development? Let's go with that. A chapter of character development! But which character? What sort of development? Is it just this chapter? That's how it usually goes, yeah? Like one chapter as a break to develop a character and then back to the action. We'll see.**_

 _ **Chapter 21**_

 _ **Wounded Soul**_

 _ **Part I**_

* * *

 _ **Morning**_

 _ **Ra Dorm**_

It was a calm morning in the dorm as most of the students were in the cafeteria, eating their meal of the day before heading to classes. All for one, Jessie, who had found himself called to the Head of the Dorm's office to discuss something. Meryem was reading something as the student stood in front of her, waiting for her to speak. "Congratulations, Mr. Alexandros," she said after several moments. "You're off probation now. But that doesn't mean you're free and clear to act however you want. You need to keep your nose clean."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you," Jessie replied before turning and leaving the room quickly.

"If you need to tal-"

The door closed with a small bang. She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

Meanwhile, Jessie walked towards the dining hall practically radiating frustration. He kept replaying his duels with two certain Slifer students, trying to figure out where he'd gone wrong. Not only had he lost his reputation as one of the best first-year Ra students, but now everyone only remembered him for ending up in the hospital wing after exams. And that was supposed to have been the start of his comeback!

As he began to ponder the last few weeks, a sizeable wad of damp paper slapped into the side of his face.

"HA!" a familiar voice barked. "Told you I'd get it in one go!"

Looking over, Jessie saw some of those who used to call themselves his friends laughing and high fiving over the successful spitball shot.

"Whachoo gonna do about it, Loser?" one of the others challenged as the group began glaring at him.

The guy had nothing but anger on his face, wanting nothing more than to pummel them for disrespecting him, but knew it would only land him in more trouble.

He scoffed and walked away, hearing their laughter echo through the halls.

Jessie was soon in the cafeteria as he went towards the line and got his food in a huff before going to an empty table to sit down.

A few eyes looked as he was eating in frustration, two of which were Sera and Laura.

"Oh joy, yet another Jessie tantrum… I swear, it's like the guy just loves to make it about him," Laura said.

" **Dubur zn ealaa khirab eashh** ," Sera said, not looking up from her food.

"…What?" Laura asked, confused.

"Closest English equivalent? You reap what you sow."

Jessie finished his meal in an angry silence before he left the cafeteria in a huff. Still grumbling to himself about how badly things had turned out for him.

* * *

 _ **Afternoon**_

 _ **Cafeteria**_

As usual, the room had large amounts of students enjoying their lunch time before going back to their grueling classrooms. Most were in their usual spots, including the odd bunch as they all sat together, still looking up information on the Duel Spirit World.

"Man, I never knew how many nut jobs there are online," Nick remarked while looking at his phone.

"No joke, I don't know whether half these guys are geniuses or insane," Laura added while also looking.

"The anonymity of the internet allows them to say things that'd normally get them thrown into the loony bin if they said it anywhere else." Barclay sighed.

"So how accurate is any of this stuff, anyway?" asked Sera. "I mean, if anyone can say anything on the Internet…"

"Well, I would think if enough people are saying the same thing that'd be a good place to start, right?" Atsuko suggested.

"Possibly. But then comes the trap of confirmation bias," Barclay replied. "How many proper scholarly articles are out there on the Duel Spirit World?"

"Well, I did read about one Professor who was looking into it, though its nothing concrete," Takashi added. "Ah well, whatever can at least give us some ideas, even if its fake, is better than nothing right?" the red-haired teen said. They nodded in agreement.

Before they could continue, an uproar of laughter emerged as it got their attention and made them turn to where the source was.

Jessie had entered the room, though now he was drenched in milk once again as someone had thrown their box at him.

The group saw him staring at his former friends, who were busting a gut once again as the guy huffed and left the cafeteria.

"Wow… the irony here is almost sad," Nick commented.

"He doesn't deserve your pity," replied Laura.

"That's a bit harsh don't you think?" Takashi asked.

"No honour amongst thieves, eh?" Barclay muttered. "How long before it stops being comeuppance and starts being gratuitous?"

"Depends on how much bad karma he's built up, I suppose," Nick replied sadly, still staring off after Jessie.

* * *

 _ **Night**_

 _ **Ra Dorm**_

 _ **Jessie's Room**_

Jessie's day had only gone downhill from the cafeteria incident, so he had felt at least marginally better upon returning to his room. But of course, seeing the empty bed opposite his own just got him worked up all over again. Not only was he being laughed at and disrespected, he didn't even have a sympathetic (or at least neutral) ear to complain to about his lot in life.

He balled up his fist and punched the wall with a frustrated yell. Once his hand stopped stinging from the impact, he walked up to his nightstand, grabbed his deck case, and threw it across the room.

Jessie breathed heavily for a few seconds, then sighed and let himself flop down onto the bed. "Why the hell am I still here? Even those Slifer idiots are mocking me…I really am worthless, huh?"

No one answered him, leaving him to simply take off his shoes and turn away as he decided to turn in for the night.

" _You've lost something precious…_ " a voice echoed in the dark room. " _Something you had long before you came to this Academy. Something that is not yet irretrievable._ "

"Who's there?" Jessie demanded of the darkness, sitting up. Silence answered him, but soon enough he saw a faint light in the middle of the floor.

Curious, he got up and promptly found **Heroic Challenger - Excalibur** in his hand. The light grew stronger and stronger until the monster appeared manifested before him as if he had played it during a duel.

"Wha…"

" _Greetings,_ " the monster said. " _It seems, now that your pride's been shattered, your ears and eyes have finally been opened to me._ "

Jessie opened his mouth to yell at it, but then thought of something else. "Wait, how is this even happening? I know I'm not dreaming, and if this was a gas leak I'd be standing outside with everyone else."

" _Don't try to logic this, you never really had the brains for that sort of thing,_ " the spirit remarked. "' _You always trust your gut, don't you? Tell me, do you feel anything off about me?_ "

Jessie huffed at the spirit's insult, but realized Excalibur was right. Somehow he knew it had good intentions.

"Ok…Say I believe you, why are you here?"

" _To help._ "

"To help?"

" _To rebuild your burning spirit you once had_ ," Excalibur continued. " _To reclaim that precious thing you lost so long ago._ "

Before he could reply, the spirit extended his hand to give him his deck case. Jessie raised an eyebrow but accepted it anyway. To his surprise, it felt practically empty; opening it to find not a single card except for what he had in his other hand.

"What the hell? Why is your card the only one I have?"

" _To reclaim what was lost, you must gather what was broken and rebuild,_ " Excalibur replied.

"Wow, vague and obvious at the same time. That's a first," Jessie muttered.

Before he could continue, the spirit placed his armored hand on his shoulder, turning him towards his wall.

In seconds, Jessie found himself looking out onto an expansive green field in broad daylight. It grew as far as the eye could see, moving gently with the wind. He turned to look at the spirit and asked what he did, but found he much option, Jessie began to walk forward until he stopped.

He knelt down, touching the grass and realizing he actually could feel it, causing him to pinch himself and feel the pain too. "This.. This is real…"

He turned back around to get some kind of answer about this from the spirit, but found that the warrior disappeared.

"I'm starting to regret this…" he said to no one before turning back around to continue forward.

With each step he took, Jessie felt like the sea of grass would be endless. However, he was wrong since after a while, he found in the middle of it, a stump.

Though what caught his attention was a single Duel Monsters Card that was lying down on top of it.

He slowly reached out and grabbed it, causing the entire area to change in mere moments as a light made him close his eyes. When it stopped, Jessie opened them only to find himself back in his home in Greece.

He then heard a familiar voice began to speak.

 _" **Agóri** , you suck at this." a familiar, feminine voice laughed._

Jessie turned and saw three kids sitting around a table outside their home.

Two boys and a girl.

The older two were laughing and clearly enjoying themselves as they laid tiles down on a board, crafting large, complicated words. While the youngest one, one of the boys, was looking angry and frustrated.

 _"Is there any game you don't suck at, Agóri?" the older boy asked._

This made the girl laugh and caused the young boy to get up from his chair.

 _"I'll find a game I can beat you both at!" the youngest shouted, before storming away from the table._

 _"That'll never happen, Agóri!" the girl called after him._

" _You know the boy?_ " Excalibur questioned as he appeared next to Jessie.

"No... He was a runt, a small fry who couldn't compete with anyone," he said while tightening his fist. "This whole Christmas Carol sequence isn't gonna help me."

" _Only through pain can one find the answers hidden._ "

As he said that, the place disappeared, leaving only another card floating in mid-air for Jessie to grab. When he did, it disappeared and entered into his deck case.

Jessie continued walking, finding cards and phantoms. As he traveled, the landscape slowly changed around him. The ground began to become more of an incline. The grass grew sparser, replaced with rockier outcroppings. More trees began appearing, a mix of cypress, pine, and poplar.

Looking in his deck case, he counted fifteen cards. "All that hassle, and all I've got is a Side Deck…" he muttered, but he could not help but smile at the cards he had gathered. Suddenly, he was faced with a specific tree, in which he saw another card.

" **Elaiódendro**... So, **Palláda Athiná** is also my guide?" Jessie said as he reached towards the card. "Then please guide me, Strategist of Olympus."

Once again, he was enveloped in a near blinding light when he touched the card. Again, the light faded and he saw another memory. This time, one he was far more fond of, even if he had not thought of it in many years.

 _"Duel Monsters?" a young boy asked. "What's that, Mamá?"_

 _"A card game." the woman replied. "One your **Patéras** and I used to play a lot."_

 _"If you and **Bampás** played it, it must be-" the boy started._

 _"Fun?" the woman interjected. "Yes, yes it is and I am sure you will come to enjoy it more than the other games you've played."_

The voices faded away a bit as the woman explained how the game was played. Jessie stood there for what felt like hours, watching the woman and the boy play the card game. She was clearly going easy on him, but it did not matter. It was the first time the boy had any fun playing a game.

Excalibur noticed a faint smile appearing on Jessie's face from seeing that memory.

The scene then shifted back to the boy and the two older kids.

 _"And I attack you directly, bringing your Life Points to **midén** ," the boy said happily. "I win!"_

 _"What?" the older boy groaned. "How could I lose at this simplistic game?"_

 _"I told you one day I would finally beat you!"_

The scene in front of him soon disappeared with the boy's laughter.

" _That runt seemed to have found what he truly loved, didn't he?_ " The spirit remarked.

"Guess so, probably one of the few moments that made him happy was dueling," Jessie remarked.

Soon small memories of the boy appeared dueling, winning trophies, and everyone cheering for him.

"Least, it was…"

With that last remark, he continued following the path laid in front of him.

* * *

 _ **Somewhere**_

As his journey continued, Jessie started to find that getting the cards were a bit more difficult now as he had to pass through insane obstacles and terrain to grab them.

After surviving each ordeal, he had 20 cards in his main deck now, including some new cards he'd never had before.

The next one he found caused the area to transform into an empty alleyway, making the Ra student's eyes widen as he realized what he was about to see.

Once again the boy appeared. This time he looked a little down. He still carried a trophy, but this one was clearly for second place. Still a good showing for the tournament and his age, but he still felt the bitterness of defeat. Laughter and two familiar voices drew Jessie's and the boy's attention further down the alley.

"Don't go..." Jessie muttered as the boy moved towards the noise.

 _"These miniature walkies-talkies were a great little investment!" the older boy laughed._

 _"I know! Bringing Agóri down a peg made it worth it," the older girl agreed._

 _"It's so much easier to win this stupid little game when you know what cards your opponent's playing."_

 _"I'm just glad we got to see that look on his face again."_

 _"You cheated?" The boy said, drawing the attention of the older two. "You hated me finally being good at something that much? You had to cheat?"_

 _"Shut up, Agóri." the older boy sighed. "You were starting to get a big head."_

 _"Yeah, pride's not something you need." the girl added._

 _"I finally had something! Something I was good at! Something I could have fun with! And you ruined it!" the boy screamed at the two. " **Misó kai tous dyo sas!** "_

The boy then threw the trophy at the ground, destroying it and turned and ran away from the two.

 _"Jessie!" their voices called after him as he ran as hard as he could away from them._

The scene disappeared as it left Jessie alone in another field of grass once again with a stump in front of him and a card on it.

He grabbed the card in a frustrated manner.

" _Seems now we've found what you lost—_ " Excalibur began to say, but was interrupted.

"Screw you! I didn't lose shit, I learned that day nobody can win unless they do whatever it takes! I needed to use everyone same way they did, it was how the world worked!"

" _And how has that worked out for you?_ "

"Perfectly," he said flatly.

" _Right,_ " the spirit replied. " _So, naturally, you still enjoy Duel Monsters and weren't thinking of dropping out of school?_ "

Jessie soon saw everything that happened to him since starting the academy, from the duel with Nick, to the loss against Takashi, and even the humiliation from his former friends.

"So, what? Now you think you can read my mind and tell me what I'm thinking and how I feel?" Jessie demanded. "Of course I'm not enjoying myself. Losing sucks and proves you're worthless, especially when you gained the respect I did. I don't deserve to be here, its meant for the great ones, and all the losses I've taken just show I'm not great..."

" _Strength is not defined simply by the number of victories one earns,_ " Excalibur said. " _Consider this as you collect the rest of your cards: Who possesses greater strength? An undefeated warrior, or a warrior who gets back up and fights having known bitter defeat?_ "

All Jessie gave the spirit was silence as he continued walking to the next part of his journey.

Some time and a lot more flashbacks and card collecting later, Jessie found himself atop a very familiar seaside cliff. There was even a sunset, like every other time his parents had taken him there as a child.

He looked at his newly-completed deck, wondering how all of this was going to end for him.

"I wonder when the Ghost of Duels Future is going to show up," he mused aloud. "That's how this usually goes, isn't it? I got all my cards back, I saw enough of my memories to prove Excalibur's point…"

Conveniently, Excalibur materialized just behind him.

" _I do not know what 'ghost' you refer to, but you have indeed regained the pieces and rebuild what you lost . Now, you must simply let go of your fear and embrace your faliure's._ "

"..." Jessie slowly turned to face the spirit. "You… you're not seriously implying what I think you are? Are you crazy?"

" _Remember what I told you earlier,_ " the spirit said simply before disappearing again.

" **Treló bástardos** ," Jessie muttered as he turned back to face the cliff. "I can't believe I'm going to do this…"

He stood up straighter, closed his eyes, took a deep breath and stepped forward.

For a moment, Jessie felt weightless, felt the wind rushing past him, felt his stomach jump from its normal position to his throat.

Then... nothing.

" _What you said, about using everyone to win... Don't you remember that we once meant something to you?_ " Jessie opened his eyes to find himself in a duel arena now, having a standard duel-disk on his arm with his deck already inside it.

"What? What in Hades is going on now?"

Before getting an answer, a door of light appeared on the opposite side as the figure walked through it.

"Hello there, Agóri," said Jessie's older brother.

" _To truly regain what you have lost, you must realize the truth of what has been holding you back. Only then will you be complete._ "

* * *

 _ **Well, that was quite an insane chapter wouldn't you all agree? For those who're wondering, it won't be a long arc like Initial Order, just two chapters at most. Regardless, we still thank you all for reading and we hope you continue to. We also give thanks once again to Eneko95 for continuing her support as our beta.**_

 **Translations** :

" **Dubur zn ealaa khirab eashh.** " - an Egyptian-Arabic proverb meaning "A wasp that brought about the destruction of its own nest through its buzzing." (He asked for it, it was his own fault.)

" **Agóri** " - Greek for "boy"

" **Elaiódendro** " - Greek for "Olive tree"

" **Palláda Athiná** " - Greek spelling of Pallas Athena. The olive tree was, according to mythology, her gift to the city of Athens (hence its name) and thus became one of her symbols. Jessie calls her "Strategist of Olympus" since her domains included military strategy.

" **Patéras** " and " **Bampás** " - Greek for "Father" and "Dad" respectively

" **Midén** " - Greek for "zero"

" **Misó kai tous dyo sas!** " - Greek "I hate both of you!"

" **Treló bástardos** " - Greek "Crazy bastard"


	22. Wounded Soul Part II

_**Hey all, Lee and Ray here with another action packed chapter, with real action this time. Sorry things have been a bit slow with the updates, we've had life and work related troubles, but we haven't given up on this series. Due to our normal beta's busy schedule, we'll be having a new temporary Beta, The Azure Guardian, helping us out.**_

 _ **Enjoy**_

 _ **Chapter 22**_

 _ **Wounded Soul**_

 _ **Part II**_

* * *

"A... Alexio?" Jessie gasped as his older brother appeared before him on the dueling field.

Now that he took a moment to look around, he realized that this was the same arena as the one that he had just re-seen recently. The arena of the last tournament that Jessie had competed in.

"Prepared to lose to me again, Agóri?" Alexio mocked.

"It won't be like last time," he remarked while powering up his duel-disk.

" _And you won't be alone,_ " Excalibur remarked as he appeared next to the Ra student. " _However, be warned: If you allow yourself to duel the way you have been, it will result in failure._ "

With that, the spirit entered into Jessie's duel-disk, causing it to glow before dying down as the two took their stance.

"Let's duel!"

 **Jessie** \- 8000 LP

 **Alexio** \- 8000 LP

"I'll go first, Agóri." Alexio said as he drew his hand. "Tch, I play two cards face down and end my turn."

The two holograms materialized before him as he crossed his arms.

Jessie drew his first card before taking a look at what he had.

"I'll also play two cards face down on the field, then I summon **Goblindbergh** (4/1400/0) in attack mode," Jessie declared.

A red monoplane soared onto the field. It circled above Jessie's side of the field and a green goblin in an aviator's outfit could be seen looking over the side.

"Thanks to this guy, I can special summon a level four monster from my hand, like my Heroic Challenger - Thousand Blades (4/1300/1100)!"

The goblin flew down onto the field, landing easily as another monster leapt out onto the field from the plane. The new monster wore a suit of armor, wielding a glaive and having an array of blades on his back. Even the new monster's armor had extra blades on some of its joints.

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Alexio remarked with a cocky tone.

"Just wait and see! Now I use both my level four monsters and build the overlay network to Xyz Summon my Heroic Challenger - Gandiva (R4/2100/1800)!"

Both monsters transformed into orbs of light as they entered the galaxy that appeared on the floor before it erupted in a burst of light.

Emerging from the galaxy was an armored being riding a horse that snorted and neighed loudly. The being was shown to be an archer with, the weapon was attached to the left hand gauntlet. The horned helmet gave a slightly demonic look to the armor, assisted by the red-eyed horse as it snorted, pawed the ground and tossed its head.

"Now Gandiva, show him what you got! Attack his life points directly with **Power Arrow!** "

The monster lifted its left arm, aiming an arrow at Alexio, pulling it back as energy started to merge with it. In a matter of seconds, the arrow was released and flew right at its target, piercing him before it disappeared.

 **Jessie** \- 8000 LP

 **Alexio** \- (8000 - 5900) LP

* * *

Alexio grabbed the spot that the arrow hit, staggering slightly before composing himself.

"Big deal." he spat as he drew a card. "Now, I'm relocating this duel to the **Kyoutou Waterfront**."

Right as he placed the card in the slot, the entire environment changed into a city street as buildings sprouted upward around them. Soon, a single large tower appeared right behind Alexio with five clearly marked levels, the top looking like a lighthouse and the entire structure resembling the Tokyo Tower.

"This field card..." Jessie groaned as he looked up at the massive tower.

"Then I activate one of my favorites, **Twin Twister**." Alexio continued as one of his face down cards revealed itself. "I'll toss this useless card from my hand and destroy both your face down cards."

Two twisters emerged on Jessie's field, destroying both of his cards as he held his arms up in defense.

"And lets not forget my field's special effect; Whenever a card is sent to the graveyard, I can place a Kaiju Counter on it. I'm counting two along with my spell, so that's three in total."

As he said that, three of the windows began to shine for a second before being replaced with a portrait of a giant monster on each one.

"Now, with three counters on my field, I can activate my field's effect; allowing me to add a Kaiju monster from my deck." He remarked.

Soon enough, a single beam of light shot from the tower behind him, hitting his duel disk and ejecting a card from his deck. He grabbed it and revealing his **Radian, The Multidimensional Kaiju** (7/2800/2500) and adding it to his hand.

 _This isn't gonna be good,_ Jessie thought to himself as he knew what was about to happen.

"As you know, Kaiju's can be summoned in a special way, by sacrificing one of my opponents monsters. Fortunately, you have one so I'm using your Gandiva to summon my Radian to your side of the field!"

Gandiva began to convulse before exploding into a massive, black bodied monster with giant spikes. Its hands were wickedly clawed and its body appeared to either be armored or naturally segmented. Piercing red eyes glowed as the creature appeared to be glitching slightly on the field.

When the monster was summoned, a fourth window shined and soon had on it the painting of Radian.

"Be thankful, Loser, that's the best card you'll ever have control of." Alexio laughed mockingly. "Or should I say, had, because with a Kaiju on the field, I can special summon another one to my side of the field!"

As he said that, a large portion of the city started sinking into the ground before a large doorway opened with an elevator starting to rise up.

"Say hello to **Super Anti-Kaiju War Machine Mecha-Dogoran** (8/?/2000)!"

A massive metallic body appeared on the field. Staring up at it, Jessie saw that it had the form of a dinosaur, likely a T-Rex, with pulsing blue energy coursing through its body. The machine had had jet-like wings with massive turbo engines on it, what appeared to be a laser cannon in its mouth and, rather than clawed hands, one looked to be something like a pitchfork and the other looked like the claw of a claw-machine.

"Unknown ATK?" Jessie muttered, looking at the stats displayed for him. "That's not good..."

"Fortunately for you, I didn't bring him to attack, I brought him to activate the spell **Advance Draw !** By sacrificing my Level 8 Mecha-Dogoran, I can draw two new cards."

The monster roared out as it crumbled away and allowed its owner drew the two cards. When it disappeared, the final window of the tower was filled with the portrait of Dogoran.

"Now, if you thought Mecha-Dogoran was scary, you'll wet yourself at the sight of this one! I now Special Summon **Thunder King, The Lightningstrike Kaiju** (9/3300/2100)!"

Three vicious looking dragon heads sprouted from a single winged body covered in grey scales. Four limbs hung from the creature's flying body as its long tail cracked through the air. In its chest, just below where the three necks connect with the rest of the body, a pulsing yellow orb of energy seemed to be the source of the monster's electrical powers. Every few seconds lightning shot from the draconic body and into one of the buildings.

"How?! You already special summoned one, there's no way you should be able to do another!" Jessie demanded as his fists tightened.

"Have you already forgotten that so long as you have a Kaiju, I can special summon my own? Idiot!" Alexio replied. "Now, Thunder King! Destroy that Kaiju with your **Lightning Scourge!** "

The three-headed beast roared out as all of its heads opened its mouths, releasing a powerful electric breath that hit Radian. It roared out in pain before exploding, making Jessie bring up his arms to brace for the impact once again, but didn't stop him from being knocked down to the ground and parts of his side of the field appeared destroyed and caught fire.

 **Jessie** \- (8000 - 7500) LP

 **Alexio** \- 5900 LP

* * *

"Seems you've already forgotten about my monster's effect. Because I took damage, I'm allowed to special summon back my Thousand Blades from the grave in attack mode!"

A large black hole appeared as the monster leapt out from it, landing on Jessie's side of the field.

"Ha! Like that'll do you any good. I end my turn."

Jessie drew and looked at what he had to fight against his brother's beast.

"I'll start by summoning to the field, **Warrior Lady of The Wasteland** (4/1100/1200) in attack mode!"

A young woman with strawberry blonde hair stepped out of a distortion in space. Her body was covered in a tattered brown cape, her eyes shaded by a matching wide brimmed hat, and she wore a teal three part outfit consisting of a midriff revealing top, a short skirt and knee high boots. Over her shoulder could be seen the hilt of a large sword.

" _What you're about to do isn't a good idea,_ " Excalibur remarked as he appeared next to Jessie. " _The card you just drew would be of greater assistance-_ "

He scoffed before continuing.

"Now I bring together my Lady along with my Thousand Blades in order to Xyz Summon **Heroic Challenger - Excalibur!** (R4/2000/2000)"

The spirit disappeared as both monsters entered the galaxy to make it explode as Excalibur rose up from it and appeared on the field.

"Ha!" Alexio laughed. "You would've been better off keeping all those weaklings on the field to act as meat shields! This one on his own is worthless!"

Jessie's hand tightened as his knuckles turned white, remembering those were the same words his brother said before he lost.

"I'll show you who's a weakling! Go Excalibur, Atta-"

Before he declared, a sudden realization hits him as Excalibur turned around his head to look at him.

Once again, he was just rushing in without any thought of what to do, letting his feelings take control of his actions. He gave his monster one more look, seeing that he nodded before turning forward to face his opponent.

"What? Finally realized you've got no chance?" Alexio continued laughing. "Call your monsters 'heroes' all you want! You're just a scared little weakling before the might of my Kaiju!"

Jessie took a deep breath and released it while cracking his neck.

"Say whatever you want, it won't matter to me. I won't attack this turn, but I will activate my Excalibur's special ability: By using both of his Overlay Units, I can double his attack points."

Both orbs of light flew upward before landing onto the monster, causing him to glow brightly as he drew his second sword.

(Excalibur 2000 - 4000)

"That ends my turn."

Alexio had a cocky grin as he drew his next card. "I'll start by activating the effect of my Field spell, meaning I once again add another Kaiju.

This time when he grabbed the card from his deck, an evil look appeared on his face.

"You still just as brainless as before, you already forgotten how my monsters work," he remarked mockingly.

Jessie didn't say anything as he glared at him.

"Now then, I'll be sacrificing your Excalibur to summon to your side of the field **Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju (8/2200/3000)** in attack mode!"

The ground beneath Excalibur briefly became water as Excalibur was suddenly consumed. Taking his place, a massive blue reptilian monster. Its back was covered in a hard, dark blue shell, it stood on thick trunk-like legs, more noticeable compared to its tinier arms. Most striking were the four tentacle-like limbs that sprouted from its sides and lashed the air around it along with its powerful looking tail.

"Now, Thunder King, let's make some Turtle Soup!"

A roar as response and again the three-headed dragon monster charged up its electricity before releasing a tri-branched bolt of lightning that fused together into one concentrated beam of plasma that slammed into the turtle monster and rendered it naught but ash.

 **Jessie** \- (7500 - 6400) LP

 **Alexio** \- 5900 LP

* * *

Jessie got knocked down from the blast, groaning for a bit before he got back on his feet.

"Yes, I remember your worthless monster's effect," Alexio replied with a bored tone as Thousand Blades reappeared on the field.

"Your move, Agóri."

The Ra student drew his next card before looking at his hand. In that moment, he understood what Excalibur mentioned before and knew what to do.

"From my hand, I summon my **Bull Blader** (4/1600/1200) in attack mode," he declared.

A minotaur-esque creature stepped onto the field clad in orange armor. A pair of massive red horns rested above its bovine head and one of its massive hands clutched a large broadsword.

" **Vlacas** , you really think that weakling card can do anything against me?" Alexio spat.

"Wanna put that to the test? Go Bull Blader, attack his Thunder King with **War Slash!** "

The monster bellowed out and ran forward before jumping up high into the air and was about to slash the monster.

"Now I activate Bull's special effect: Since he's attacking, we both don't take any damage, but that means we'll both lose our monsters!"

As Jessie said that, the cocky look on Alexio's face disappeared before he thrusted his hand forward to reveal his facedown card.

"Not going to happen thanks to my trap, **Generation Shift!** Now by destroying my own monster, I can add a copy of it from my deck to my hand."

The monster began to roar out in pain with all three of its heads as it started to crack before exploding, releasing a powerful gust of wind.

Both brothers held their arms up to brace themselves while Bull Blader was sent back to his master's side of the field. As it died down, Jessie had a smile on his face, making his brother frown back.

"The truth comes out. Illuminating isn't it?" He remarked with the same tone his brother had. "And just what I expected. Go, Thousand Blades!"

The monster nodded before twirling his staff and aiming at his enemy.

He then charged forward, piercing Alexio's body as he yelled out in pain.

 **Jessie** \- 6400

 **Alexio** \- (5900 - 4600)

* * *

The illusion grabbed the place where he had been stabbed, but didn't fall from it as he looked at his opponent.

"Pure...Luck," Alexio spat out.

"Looks like the tide's turning, isn't it **Aderfós**?"

* * *

 **Translations** :

 **Vlacas** \- Idiot, Greek.

 **Aderfós** \- Brother, Greek.

 _ **Et voila! The tables have been turned. Will Jessie keep this momentum or will this Ghost of Duels Past retake the initiative in this duel? Will the Heroic Challengers be able to overcome the mighty Kaijus? If this was an Inzektor Deck we could make all sorts of Super Sentai references here... I digress. Is everyone still enjoying the story? The duels? I certainly am, and so is Raydark, hence why we keep churning out these chapters (as inconsistent as our upload schedule has become). Anyways, please look forward to the conclusion of this Duel and, from the looks of it, some character development and growth on Jessie's part.**_


	23. Wounded Soul Part III

_**Again, sorry for the lack of consistency with our updates as life continues to interfere. But, fear not dear readers! We shall continue to type away and move the plot along until we feel we've finished the story we're trying to tell! Many thanks to The Azure Guardian for agreeing to be our Temporary Beta. And now for the rest of Jessie's duel against the Ghost of Duels Past. ... I rambled a bit again, didn't I?**_

 _ **Chapter 23**_

 _ **Wounded Soul**_

 _ **Part III**_

* * *

 **Jessie** \- 6400

 **Alexio** \- 4600

"Don't think you've won just because you've dropped my Life Points below yours." Alexio retorted.

"But my turn's not over yet," Jessie continued. "Using Thousand Blades and Bull Rider, I create the overlay network once again to Xyz Summon **Number 59: Crooked Cook** (R4/2300/200), then end my turn."

A gout of flame erupted from the floor before revealing a relatively tall young man with a tall wooden toque on his head. He wore a matching brown chef's uniform, carried a frying pan in one hand and had a ladle and a few spoons hanging on his waist. But what made him unusual was the large, silver canister he carried on his back that had a hose leading to what appeared to be a wrist mounted flamethrower.

Alexio growled as he drew his next card. "Again, I activate **Kyoutou Waterfront's** effect to add a Kaiju from my deck to my hand." he said as another single card slid out for him to grab. "Now your cook is fried as I use it as tribute to summon another Radian, the Multidimensional Kaiju (7/2800/2500) to your side of the field."

The monster began to writhe in pain as his chest bust open, revealing an interdimensional portal with a large black creature beginning to emerge, destroying Jessie's monster. The creature had glowing red eyes, viciously clawed hands and had several wicked looking spikes protruding from several places on its body.

"And with a Kaiju on your side of the field, I can special summon one to my side," Alexio continued. "Meet **Gadarla, the Mystery Dust Kaiju** (8/2700/1600)."

Descending from the sky came a massive insect with a golden-yellow carapace and several sets of red orbs that Jessie assumed to be the eyes. The creature was held aloft by light blue wings that appeared to radiate light. After a few seconds, Jessie realized that the light he thought was radiated off of the wings was actually light being reflected by untold tons of dust falling from the creature's wings.

"You summoned a weaker monster?" Jessie questioned.

"It's the effect of Gadarla that kept me from putting it on your side of the field," Alexio replied with a wicked grin. "By removing three Kaiju Counters from the field, Gadarla's dust halves the attack and defense of all other monsters on the field."

The moth screeched as it began to fly upward, stopping just half-way before beginning to flap its large wings, spreading a powder that caused the monster to scream out in pain.

Radian (2800 - 1400)

"Oh no..." "Gadarla, Destroy Radian with **Toxic Mist**."

After it stopped flapping, the massive moth soared over Jessie's side of the field, and more of the dust simply fell from its wings. However, rather than the blue dust that had appeared before, this dust had a more purple hue to it. While Radian seemed to have inhaled most of the dust, before collapsing in a convulsing pile on the ground and then shattering, Jessie found he ended up with a lung-full of it as well and began coughing and hacking.

 **Jessie** \- (6400 - 5100)

 **Alexio** \- 4600

* * *

"That also means your pathetic monster returns as well," Alexio sighed as Thousand Blades once again appeared in the place of the former monster. "Lucky for me though, I get another token on my field spell."

Another portrait appeared where one of the empty places was, showing Raidan again.

Jessie soon calmed down as he finished coughing, allowing him to start his turn by drawing.

 _I'm not gonna be able to turn the tide this way, gotta get him to use up some of those tokens if I want to win._ Jessie thought to himself.

The answer soon came to him when he saw one of his cards.

"I better make it count... I set one card face down and summon to the field, **Gagaga Gardna** (4/1400/2000) in attack mode!"

A humanoid manifested onto the field, carrying a tower shield that had a red border over a blue and yellow chevron pattern. The humanoid had pink hair revealed under a helmet and goggles and most of its face was obscured by an orange scarf. The rest of its body is under a dark blue duster, a green set of body armor, baggy pants and heavy combat boots.

"Cowering into defense mode now?" Alexio laughed, giving Jessie a cocky glance. "So you've realized there's no chance to win now, have you?"

"I'm not done yet, because now I'm using these two to build the Overlay Network once again in order to Xyz Summon **Number 86: Heroic Champion - Rhongomyniad** (R4/1500/1500)!"

Thousand Blades and Gardna lept into the air before becoming gleaming orbs of light that began swirling together before the entire field was bathed in blinding radiance. Once the lights dimmed, a creature in gleaming white armor with gold trim was revealed. It wielded a massive, golden spear in its hands and its stance and armor gave an almost regal air to the monster.

"This monster's special effect is unique **Adelfós** , especially depending on how many Overlay Units he has, and I count means his attack and defense points are doubled!" Jessie declared.

The warrior roared out as a surge of electricity surrounded him in moments, energizing his whole body. Rhongomyniad - (1500 - 3000)

Alexio's eyes widen when he saw the difference in his attack power.

"Go Champion! Attack that big moth of his with **Voltage Demolition!** "

The monster roared out as he raised up his spear, calling down a large bolt of lighting as it hit the tip of it. In seconds, the spear was filled with energy, causing him to throw it right at his opponent's monster.

"I see you still have that short attention span," Alexio remarked as his cocky look came back. "By spending three Kaiju tokens from anywhere on the field, I can halve the attack and defense of all other monsters on the field."

When three of the tower panels disappeared, dust once again emerged as the monster flapped its wings, spreading it across the field. The warrior began choking from it, causing it to kneel down as his armor rusted away in seconds. Rhongomyniad - (3000 - 1500)

"So much for your warrior's counter attack!"

The spear hit its mark, though instead of destroying the monster, it bounced back at its owner and caused an explosion.

 **Jessie** \- (5100 - 3900)

 **Alexio** \- (4600)

* * *

When the dust settled and the smoke from the explosion cleared, Alexio's amused face turned to one of shock when he saw that the monster was still around.

It still had rust on its armor, but it wasn't choking from the dust anymore and was standing up again.

"How is that weakling still standing?!" Alexio questioned. "It should've been pulverized!"

"I told you, my monster gains different effects depending on how many Overlay Units he has: He has two, giving him attack and defense points, and with just one? He can't be destroyed in battle." Jessie revealed. "It's inability to be destroyed doesn't stop you from losing life points," Alexio argued. "So why go through with that attack? All it got you was more damage!"

"And here I thought you were the smart one. Remember that precious Field Spell you're using? It needs tokens for it to work properly, and from where I'm standing, I see none."

That remark made his brother turn around and see that his tower no longer had any of its panels shining.

"I end my turn," the Ra-yellow student said with a smug tone.

His opponent growled and tightened his fists.

"Don't get too comfortable behind that monster," Alexio snarled. "Regardless of counters, I can still tribute your monster to summon one of my Kaijus to your field!"

Jessie kept his composure as his monster soon disappeared as an orb of light emerged from where it was, expanding until it exploded.

"Come on down from your web, **Kumongous, the Sticky String Kaiju** (7/2400/2500)."

A hissing noise reverberated throughout the area as a large web was now in place, holding the largest spider in the middle. Eight spiked legs held aloft its vibrantly colored body. Red circles, black stripes decorated the primarily yellow and spiked thorax. Its mandibles clacked in agitation and hunger as the settled into place on Jessie's side of the field.

"Now watch this reversal of the food chain as the moth eats the spider!"

The giant moth creature buzzed as it went towards the spider and started dining on its body until it exploded, causing Jessie to brace himself from the impact.

 **Jessie** \- (3900 - 3600)

 **Alexio** \- (4600)

* * *

Right when he took damage, Jessie's Thousand Blade once again returned to the field in attack position.

"Do not forget: Every time a card is sent to the graveyard, my tower receives yet another token," Alexio added as another panel glowed. "That ends my turn."

Jessie drew, looking to see what he had gotten and what he saw gave him a smile.

"I doubt you have anything that could match my great beast's power, so why put on this facade?"

"Well Adelfós, what you call a facade is actually my real expression. Let me show you: First I sacrifice my Thousand blade in order to summon my **Fiend Megacyber** (6/2200/1200)."

The monster glowed brightly as it was soon replaced with the newest beast.

Now stood a monster who's upper half was clad in spiked yellow armor with jagged black patterns on it while the lower half was covered by half a deep blue robe. What skin was exposed had a sun-baked appearance and the air around it appeared to crackle with energy.

"So what if you have a new monster? It's still worthless compared to my Kaiju."

"True, on its own, but I think my **Burden of the Mighty** spell may push the odds in my favor."

As he said that, Alexio had a look of shock on his face as Jessie activated the spell, depicting a nest with baby birds as a hand attempts to touch them.

Soon enough, the card glowed, causing the moth to yell out in pain from the effect the spell was doing. "Because it lowers the attack points of monsters depending on their level, I'd say your moth is going to have one bad day right now."

Gadarla - (2600 - 1900)

"A temporary boon for you, surely!" Alexio spat, though he seemed to be trying to convince himself more than Jessie.

"Alright Fiend, take down that insect with **Dark Impact!** "

The warrior roared out as black electricity surrounded him, allowing him to float and then fly right towards its opponent, hitting it and making it explode, causing Alexio to be knocked down.

 **Jessie** \- 3600

 **Alexio** \- (4600 - 4300)

* * *

"A temporary setback!" Alexio insisted as he got back up. "Besides, every time a card leaves the field, my Tower gains another token, allowing me to use the effects of my Kaiju's!"

Another panel soon glowed, having a portrait of Gadarla this time.

"That'll end my turn then," Jessie replied.

"My turn!" Alexio snarled while drawing. "I'll start by playing the spell **Interrupted Kaiju Slumber**. It allows me to destroy as many monsters on the field as possible. Which means your monster is toast and my Tower is at full charge!" The card depicted the familiar Gameciel and another monster that looked like a dragon or dinosaur with glowing red spikes on its head that Jessie vaguely remembered being called Dogoran. A light then shot from Alexio's card and struck Fiend Megacyber, which folded in on itself from pain before shattering.

"Then, I special summon two Kaiju from my deck, one to each side of the field, and they have to attack!" Alexio roared. "Say hello to **Jizukiru, the Star Destroying Kaiju** (10/3300/2600) and your old friend Radian!"

Again the large, black spiked monster appeared on Jessie's side of the field, roaring.

On Alexio's side appeared a very angular monster colored dark steel grey with bright, glowing yellow patches and what appeared to be a red glass section on its head as if it were a covering for a cockpit. It appeared to be based on a wyvern as it had no clear arms, but large wings, a set of legs that did not look as if they could support the weight of the machine and a massive tail.

"Now Jizukiru, destroy that beast with **Neutron Beam!** "

The monster roared as the red part of its body began to glow brightly, charging up to attack.

"Seems your anger has you making mistakes, like forgetting about the spell I still have on the field and its effect to lower attack points."

"What?!"

Jizukiru charged up a brilliant golden beam that it immediately launched at Radian. In response, Radian swiped one clawed hand across the air before it, tearing open a portal that swallowed the beam. The exit to the portal then cracked open behind Alexio's monster and blasted it with its own attack, destroying it and releasing a powerful shock-wave.

 **Jessie** \- 3600

 **Alexio** \- (4300 - 3800)

* * *

"Grr! I'll activate my Tower's effect and add a Kaiju from my deck to my hand." Alexio snarled as he got back up. "And special summon **Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju** (8/2200/3000) to my side of the field in attack mode and end my turn."

As the monster emerged, Jessie realized what was happening to the projection of his brother.

He was becoming erratic, making decisions on impulse rather than thinking things through and brute forcing it.

It made him realize that he forgot dueling meant to him and what it gave him so long ago, something that he could give with everything he had and still smile even if he lost.

"I draw," he began. "From my hand, I summon **Heroic Challenger - Double Lance** (4/1700/900) in attack mode."

A knight clad in smooth, white armor with blue accents and wielding two spears as tall as itself stepped onto Jessie's side of the field.

"And because of the spell, my monster's more than enough to take down that overgrown turtle without trouble. Go Lance, attack that beast with **Twin Pierce Strike!** "

The warrior yelled out a battle cry as it twirled both its lances and aimed it at the large monster, running towards it with lightning speed. It then jumped and thrusted its lances forward, breaking through its shell and destroying it in mere moments. Alexio braced for the backlash as it hit him, pushing him back slightly.

 **Jessie** \- 3600

 **Alexio** \- (3800 - 3500)

"It's not over yet! Now I'll let your own monster give you a taste of your own medicine, go Radian! Attack him directly!"

The Kaiju roared out as it extended one of its arms, lifting it up and slamming it down as it send a powerful wave of darkness right at Alexio. It hit its target, making him yell out in pain as it soon stopped, leaving Alexio breathing heavily and on his knees.

 **Jessie** \- 3600

 **Alexio** \- (3500 - 700)

* * *

"I'm done for now," Jessie replied as he waited for his opponent to make his move.

When his brother got up, he saw that the projection now transformed into a corrupt version of his brother, only now he had half of his own face on him as well.

The look Jessie had was one of shock when he saw the creature standing in front of him.

"Rrra! I'll activate Interrupted Kaiju Slumbers ability!" Alexio growled. "By banishing it from my Graveyard, I can add a Kaiju from my deck to my hand."

Alexio angrily, almost violently, took the card that ejected itself. "Now, I'll special summon Gadarla, the Mystery Dust Kaiju to my side of the field again!" Alexio continued. "And use its ability to cut your monsters' attacks in half!"

He slammed the card down, summoning the massive moth flew onto the field as it spread toxic dust across Jessie's side of the field, causing his monsters to cough and wheeze and grow weaker.

"And now, Gardarla! Turn that worthless lancer to dust!"

This time, rather than flapping its wings at Double Lancer, Gadarla flew down as it roared out and attempted to destroy Double Lance.

Jessie was silent for a few seconds, thinking about everything that lead up to this and realizing all that happened. He simply looked at his brother and gave a gentle smile.

"Thank you Alexio... You made me realize how stupid it was for me to let you have taken away what this meant to me. It's the first time I am truly thankful to you, I won't forget it. Now I activate my trap card, **Battleguard Howling** ; with its effect, I return your Kaiju monster back to your hand and deal damage equal to its original attack points."

The card revealed itself, depicting Swamp Battleguard to be roaring out as shockwaves emerge from its mouth. Soon enough, Gadarla stopped in its tracks, glowing brightly as it soon disappeared back into its owner's hand. Along with it, an orb of light emerged from it, sending a powerful surge of energy all over Alexio's body.

It caused him to roar out in pain as he soon disappeared, leaving only Jessie alone.

 **Jessie** \- 3600

 **Alexio** \- (700 - 0)

* * *

The buildings surrounding Jessie soon disappeared as well as the space around him, leaving Jessie in a place with stars in the sky.

He looked at them with awe and chuckled softly when he realized what he was feeling.

"Wow... it's been so long since I felt... happy," Jessie remarked as he smiled for the first time in years.

" _You've been reborn, and I am proud to finally have the true you returned,_ " Excalibur added as he reappeared, making Jessie turn to him.

"I... I had almost forgotten that I wasn't alone in all those wins, you and the others were with me... Helping me."

" _We never left, you simply lost what it meant to be a real duelist, but you have regained yourself._ "

"So what now?"

Just as he said that, a bright light shined from Excalibur, making the student cover his eyes from it. When it stopped, he slowly opened back them and found himself back in his room, exactly as he left it. "Did I..?" He asked no one in particular, but stopped when he felt the deck in his hand. He took a look through it, seeing that it was all the new cards he gained.

He then saw his old deck was still where it was thrown, making him go towards it and collect them into one single deck again. "Well, if I'm gonna go further than before, I'm gonna need all of you," he said to the cards before going to his table to start sorting them out.

While he did that, Excalibur was outside his window, seeing his partner working to create a new deck.

" _You will need all the power you can muster... Especially for what's to come,_ " He remarked before disappearing into the night.

* * *

Translations:

 **Adelfós** \- Greek for "Brother"

 _ **Wow, now that was an insane chapter don't you all agree? It was probably one of the ones me and Lee really enjoyed making. I hope you all enjoyed it too, but be ready, we'll be having a major dueling event coming up in the next chapter. Till then, have a great new year everyone and do your best in all that you want to do.**_


End file.
